Q146443

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

1 November 1905

Named after

Donald Menzel , (American astrophysicist )

Alternative designations

A905 VC · 1930 DS, 1965 SF · 1965 VH, 1970 EM · 1973 CE, 1975 UH · 1975 VE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

111.50 yr (40,724 days)

Aphelion

2.5437 AU

Perihelion

1.9238 AU

Semi major axis

2.2337 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,219 days)

Mean anomaly

183.67 °

Mean motion

0° 17 42.72 / day

Inclination

3.9008°

Longitude of ascending node

57.801°

Argument of perihelion

347.83°

Mean diameter

9.588 ± 0.181 km , 10.138 ± 0.092 km , 10.18 km (taken) , 10.182 km

Synodic rotation period

2.834 ± 0.001 h , 2.8343 ± 0.0003 h , 2.8344 ± 0.0002 h , 2.8346 ± 0.0003 h , 2.834 81 ± 0.000 01 h , 2.834 97 ± 0.000 05 h , 2.835 ± 0.001 h , 2.8350 ± 0.0005 h , 2.8364 ± 0.0005 h , 2.84 ± 0.03 h

via Wikipedia infobox