Q144346

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

31 August 1954

Named after

Gerhard Klare (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1954 QH · 1934 CH, 1952 DW 2 · 1954 SB, 1954 SF · 1954 UF 1 , 1969 AV

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

83.12 yr (30,360 days)

Aphelion

2.9839 AU

Perihelion

2.3702 AU

Semi major axis

2.6771 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.38 yr (1,600 days)

Mean anomaly

71.010 °

Mean motion

0° 13 30 / day

Inclination

4.0342°

Longitude of ascending node

288.67°

Argument of perihelion

142.57°

Dimensions

14.69 ± 0.82 km , 19.21 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

4.7410 ± 0.0001 h , 4.741 73 ± 0.000 07 h , 4.7421 ± 0.0001 h , 4.742 88 ± 0.000 05 h , 4.742 885 ± 0.000 001 h , 4.7429 ± 0.0003 h , 4.7431 ± 0.0001 h , 4.744 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Orbital period

1600.413882435003

Image

001825-asteroid shape model (1825) Klare.png

via Wikidata · CC0