Q146473

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

21 May 1879

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ r iː t iː /

Named after

Arete

Alternative designations

A879 KA; 1934 RE 1 ;, 1950 DY

Minor planet category

Asteroid belt

Observation arc

136.89 yr (50000 d)

Aphelion

3.1882283 AU (476.95216 Gm ) (Q)

Perihelion

2.2897600 AU (342.54322 Gm) (q)

Semi major axis

2.7389941 AU (409.74769 Gm) (a)

Eccentricity

0.1640143 (e)

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1655.7 d )

Mean anomaly

20.361539 ° (M)

Mean motion

0° 13 2.744 / day (n)

Inclination

8.793773° (i)

Longitude of ascending node

81.607160° (Ω)

Argument of perihelion

246.46589° (ω)

Earth moid

1.29448 AU (193.651 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

31.729

Orbital period

1655.867974980001

via Wikidata · CC0