Q140353

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

M. B. Protić

Discovery site

Belgrade Obs.

Discovery date

20 March 1938

Named after

Belgrade (capital city)

Alternative designations

1938 FD · 1931 VF, 1934 JF · 1935 ST, 1942 CD · 1952 JG, 1952 KM 1 · 1971 VT, 1978 EW 6

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Padua

Observation arc

85.34 yr (31,171 days)

Aphelion

2.8392 AU

Perihelion

2.5935 AU

Semi major axis

2.7164 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.48 yr (1,635 days)

Mean anomaly

159.08 °

Mean motion

0° 13 12.72 / day

Inclination

5.2774°

Longitude of ascending node

63.889°

Argument of perihelion

231.89°

Dimensions

30.97 ± 9.33 km , 36.16 ± 1.9 km ( IRAS :20) , 37.90 ± 0.48 km , 39.524 ± 0.219 km , 42.003 ± 0.213 km

Synodic rotation period

6.943 ± 0.004 h , 6.9490 ± 0.0006 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

39.524

Orbital period

1634.993563001904

via Wikidata · CC0