Q150176

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

18 October 1939

Named after

Ahti (Finnish mythology)

Alternative designations

1939 UJ · 1942 FH, 1950 TG 3 · 1968 UT 2 , 1979 RG · 1980 VK 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

77.63 yr (28,355 days)

Aphelion

3.3789 AU

Perihelion

3.0708 AU

Semi major axis

3.2248 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.79 yr (2,115 days)

Mean anomaly

2.3046 °

Mean motion

0° 10 12.72 / day

Inclination

15.466°

Longitude of ascending node

33.671°

Argument of perihelion

150.83°

Dimensions

36.60 km (derived) , 36.71 ± 2.7 km ( IRAS :24) , 39.975 ± 0.157 , 42.16 ± 0.62 km , 42.373 ± 0.121 km , 55.33 ± 0.29 km

Synodic rotation period

24 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

39.975

Orbital period

2113.393734507575

via Wikidata · CC0