Q141151

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. Itzigsohn

Discovery site

La Plata Obs.

Discovery date

13 September 1950

Named after

Eva Perón , (Argentine idol)

Alternative designations

1950 RK · 1935 RD, 1937 CF · 1946 OE, 1950 TM 3 · A924 WC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Vestian

Observation arc

92.30 yr (33,713 days)

Aphelion

2.6415 AU

Perihelion

2.1918 AU

Semi major axis

2.4167 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.76 yr (1,372 days)

Mean anomaly

268.75 °

Mean motion

0° 15 44.28 / day

Inclination

5.2629°

Longitude of ascending node

90.323°

Argument of perihelion

289.75°

Dimensions

9.31 ± 0.40 km , 10.698 ± 0.125 km , 11.446 ± 0.086 km , 12.16 ± 0.76 km , 12.39 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.58 ± 0.05 h , 2.582 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Eva Perón

Followed by

1590 Tsiolkovskaja

Follows

Q141148

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

10.698

Orbital period

1372.617648224538

via Wikidata · CC0