Q147376

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

27 February 1976

Named after

Jihlava (Czech city)

Alternative designations

1976 DG · 1955 SH 1 , 1955 SH 2 · 1955 VF, 1968 UO · 1970 GF 2 , 1973 GY

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

61.46 yr (22,449 days)

Aphelion

2.3086 AU

Perihelion

2.0443 AU

Semi major axis

2.1765 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.21 yr (1,173 days)

Mean anomaly

48.478 °

Mean motion

0° 18 25.2 / day

Inclination

3.8511°

Longitude of ascending node

23.848°

Argument of perihelion

51.247°

Dimensions

5.765 ± 0.691 km , 7.14 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.708 76 ± 0.000 01 h , 2.708 88 ± 0.000 01 h , 2.709 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

5.765

Orbital period

1173.135442434338

via Wikidata · CC0