Q140346

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

A. Patry

Discovery site

Nice Obs.

Discovery date

28 January 1938

Named after

Paul and Prosper Henry (astronomers, opticians)

Alternative designations

1938 BG · 1938 DM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

79.00 yr (28,854 days)

Aphelion

3.1087 AU

Perihelion

2.1368 AU

Semi major axis

2.6227 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.25 yr (1,551 days)

Mean anomaly

216.91 °

Mean motion

0° 13 55.2 / day

Inclination

8.7440°

Longitude of ascending node

125.84°

Argument of perihelion

94.457°

Dimensions

19.19 ± 4.31 km , 19.92 ± 1.7 km , 19.98 km (derived) , 26.163 ± 0.138 km , 26.442 ± 0.150 km , 27.70 ± 8.84 km , 28.55 ± 0.36 km

Synodic rotation period

10 h , 17.370 ± 0.006 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

26.442

Orbital period

1550.335998152927

via Wikidata · CC0