Q143243

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

H. van Gent

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs. , (Leiden Southern Station)

Discovery date

10 May 1934

Named after

Mieke Oort (wife of Jan Oort )

Alternative designations

1934 JM · 1951 SM, 1951 VB · 1967 UG

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

82.98 yr (30,307 days)

Aphelion

3.2624 AU

Perihelion

2.7733 AU

Semi major axis

3.0178 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.24 yr (1,915 days)

Mean anomaly

289.63 °

Mean motion

0° 11 16.8 / day

Inclination

11.366°

Longitude of ascending node

58.433°

Argument of perihelion

229.49°

Dimensions

19.445 ± 0.208 , 19.55 ± 0.60 km , 19.604 ± 0.289 km , 21.40 km (calculated) , 22.08 ± 1.45 km

Synodic rotation period

8.8 h , 10.199 42 ± 0.000 01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

19.445

Orbital period

1913.064566941209

Image

001753-asteroid shape model (1753) Mieke.png

via Wikidata · CC0