Q141609

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

S. Arend

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

1 September 1953

Named after

The IBM NORC , (Naval Ordnance Research Calculator)

Alternative designations

1953 RB · 1929 CA, 1935 EN · 1936 QS, 1942 RK · 1947 NG, 1953 QK · 1954 UL 1 , A914 SA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

102.34 yr (37,380 days)

Aphelion

3.9236 AU

Perihelion

2.4606 AU

Semi major axis

3.1921 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.70 yr (2,083 days)

Mean anomaly

147.86 °

Mean motion

0° 10 22.08 / day

Inclination

15.552°

Longitude of ascending node

320.78°

Argument of perihelion

286.20°

Dimensions

44.66 ± 2.09 km , 47.60 km (calculated) , 53.317 ± 0.176 km , 55.863 ± 1.536 km , 61.76 ± 17.49 km , 75.11 ± 0.80 km

Synodic rotation period

12.94 ± 0.01 h , 13.8113 ± 0.0071 h , 13.959 ± 0.004 h , 18.820 ± 0.770 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

53.317

Orbital period

2068.178975866114

via Wikidata · CC0