Q139587

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

19 August 1938

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l ɪ n t s i ə /

Named after

Linz (Austrian city)

Alternative designations

1938 QD · 1931 JD, 1933 SM 1 · 1936 FC 1 , 1949 OP 1 · 1955 ST, 1955 UB · A916 QD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

86.40 yr (31,556 days)

Aphelion

3.3312 AU

Perihelion

2.9148 AU

Semi major axis

3.1230 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2,016 days)

Mean anomaly

52.444 °

Mean motion

0° 10 42.96 / day

Inclination

13.398°

Longitude of ascending node

188.96°

Argument of perihelion

207.33°

Dimensions

54.30 ± 16.67 km , 58.78 km (derived) , 58.99 ± 2.5 km , 59.021 ± 0.518 km , 66.05 ± 21.19 km , 67.66 ± 0.80 km , 74.78 ± 0.36 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

74.78

Orbital period

2018.019603963367

via Wikidata · CC0