Q144673

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. Thiele

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

1 February 1916

Named after

Joachim Stobbe, (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

A916 CA · 1930 ML, 1930 QT · 1937 AH, 1951 MG · 1951 NF, 1952 UC · 1959 LA, 1968 OM 1 · A902 YB, A906 YN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

114.35 yr (41,766 days)

Aphelion

2.6658 AU

Perihelion

2.5547 AU

Semi major axis

2.6103 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.22 yr (1,540 days)

Mean anomaly

280.42 °

Mean motion

0° 14 1.32 / day

Inclination

11.138°

Longitude of ascending node

106.92°

Argument of perihelion

140.64°

Dimensions

17.427 ± 0.335 km , 22.72 ± 2.09 km , 23.33 ± 0.64 km , 23.85 km (derived) , 23.90 ± 1.7 km ( IRAS :3)

Synodic rotation period

5.617 ± 0.002 h , 6.37 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

17.427

Orbital period

1540.63575698751

via Wikidata · CC0