Q144323

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

4 September 1951

Named after

Wilhelm Gliese , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1951 RD · 1944 MC, 1948 VH · 1950 BL, 1950 DR · 1950 EF, 1954 NE · 1970 EU 2 , 1971 SE 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

68.36 yr (24,967 days)

Aphelion

2.5268 AU

Perihelion

1.9244 AU

Semi major axis

2.2256 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,213 days)

Mean anomaly

37.708 °

Mean motion

0° 17 48.48 / day

Inclination

2.8919°

Longitude of ascending node

310.01°

Argument of perihelion

296.68°

Dimensions

8.19 km (calculated) , 8.439 ± 0.324 , 9.544 ± 0.025 km

Synodic rotation period

4.4864 ± 0.0006 h , 4.488 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox