Q139158

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

G. Kulin

Discovery site

Konkoly Obs.

Discovery date

11 December 1936

Named after

Salonta (Romanian city)

Alternative designations

1936 YA · 1933 FX 1 , 1934 NU · 1954 CQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

84.20 yr (30,754 days)

Aphelion

3.3424 AU

Perihelion

2.9502 AU

Semi major axis

3.1463 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.58 yr (2,038 days)

Mean anomaly

328.13 °

Mean motion

0° 10 35.76 / day

Inclination

13.889°

Longitude of ascending node

260.42°

Argument of perihelion

29.895°

Dimensions

52.73 ± 17.17 km , 53.769 ± 0.269 km , 60.95 ± 0.91 km , 62.90 ± 1.6 km , 62.927 ± 0.418 km , 65.53 ± 15.83 km , 72.06 ± 0.75 km

Synodic rotation period

8.861 ± 0.003 h , 8.870 ± 0.004 h , 8.8716 ± 0.0007 h

via Wikipedia infobox