Q141990

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

J. A. Bruwer

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

13 July 1953

Named after

Robert T. A. Innes , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1953 NA · 1940 GB, 1948 EM · 1949 QA, 1953 OF · 1953 PN, 1957 OE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

77.08 yr (28,155 days)

Aphelion

3.0302 AU

Perihelion

2.0866 AU

Semi major axis

2.5584 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.09 yr (1,495 days)

Mean anomaly

247.27 °

Mean motion

0° 14 27.24 / day

Inclination

9.0941°

Longitude of ascending node

95.441°

Argument of perihelion

188.76°

Dimensions

13.352 ± 0.140 km , 13.54 ± 1.17 km , 14.082 ± 0.042 km , 14.76 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

3.191 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

13.352

Orbital period

1494.078409466845

via Wikidata · CC0