Q142126

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

7 September 1934

Named after

Generic name , (common German name)

Alternative designations

1934 RS · 1943 GE, 1950 PX · 1953 AD, 1957 WA · 1959 CV, 1962 RH

Minor planet category

main-belt · Themis

Observation arc

82.66 yr (30,190 days)

Aphelion

3.4870 AU

Perihelion

2.7920 AU

Semi major axis

3.1395 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.56 yr (2,032 days)

Mean anomaly

126.58 °

Mean motion

0° 10 37.92 / day

Inclination

0.9409°

Longitude of ascending node

18.979°

Argument of perihelion

178.21°

Dimensions

35.78 ± 2.4 km ( IRAS :17) , 42.377 ± 0.188 km , 42.99 ± 2.86 km , 43.00 ± 0.77 km , 45.194 ± 0.620 km

Mass

(3.98 ± 0.80) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox