Q143465

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

23 September 1965

Named after

Appenzell ( canton )

Alternative designations

1965 SA · 1934 PM, 1942 TH

Minor planet category

main-belt · Nysa

Observation arc

74.56 yr (27,232 days)

Aphelion

2.8899 AU

Perihelion

2.0141 AU

Semi major axis

2.4520 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.84 yr (1,402 days)

Mean anomaly

175.69 °

Mean motion

0° 15 24.12 / day

Inclination

3.2582°

Longitude of ascending node

12.423°

Argument of perihelion

19.718°

Dimensions

19.0 ± 1.9 km , 19.30 ± 0.17 km , 20.221 ± 0.129 km , 20.86 ± 2.3 km ( IRAS :2) , 21 ± 2 km

Synodic rotation period

5.183 35 ± 0.000 01 h , 5.1839 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.221

Orbital period

1400.88134099586

Image

001768-asteroid shape model (1768) Appenzella.png

via Wikidata · CC0