Q142198

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

Simonida (Queen)

Alternative designations

1938 FB · 1931 AZ, 1936 SG · 1941 BD, 1943 VJ · 1951 CL 1 , 1953 VD · 1958 FE, 1958 GX

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

86.04 yr (31,427 days)

Aphelion

2.5114 AU

Perihelion

1.9550 AU

Semi major axis

2.2332 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,219 days)

Mean anomaly

18.859 °

Mean motion

0° 17 43.08 / day

Inclination

6.7964°

Longitude of ascending node

30.145°

Argument of perihelion

50.114°

Dimensions

11.08 ± 0.5 km ( IRAS :8) , 12.16 ± 0.52 km

Synodic rotation period

5.16 ± 0.04 h , 5.2885 ± 0.0005 h , 5.3 ± 0.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.08

Orbital period

1219.16856014909

via Wikidata · CC0