Q139404

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

3 August 1937

Named after

Ankara (Turkish capital)

Alternative designations

1937 PA · 1933 SA, 1934 XG · 1936 FL 1 , 1943 YD · 1966 BG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

82.95 yr (30,296 days)

Aphelion

3.1134 AU

Perihelion

2.2802 AU

Semi major axis

2.6968 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.43 yr (1,618 days)

Mean anomaly

63.234 °

Mean motion

0° 13 21.36 / day

Inclination

6.0913°

Longitude of ascending node

296.31°

Argument of perihelion

296.31°

Dimensions

17.834 ± 0.207 km , 18.495 ± 0.068 km , 18.95 ± 0.63 km , 19.82 ± 0.26 km , 29.08 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

31.8 ± 0.6 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

17.834

Orbital period

1616.028965101835

Image

001457-asteroid shape model (1457) Ankara.png

via Wikidata · CC0