Q142649

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

8 September 1932

Named after

Niece of astronomer Georges Roland

Alternative designations

1932 RL · 1942 TC, 1950 BF 1 · 1955 QA 1 , A906 YJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ), background

Observation arc

111.83 yr (40,847 d)

Aphelion

2.5989 AU

Perihelion

1.8390 AU

Semi major axis

2.2189 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.31 yr (1,207 d)

Mean anomaly

37.923 °

Mean motion

0° 17 53.52 / day

Inclination

4.0315°

Longitude of ascending node

6.1128°

Argument of perihelion

42.974°

Mean diameter

7.459 ± 0.114 km , 7.578 ± 0.291 km , 7.62 ± 1.37 km

Synodic rotation period

10 h (at least)

via Wikipedia infobox