Q150309

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

20 March 1890

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b r uː n ə /

Named after

Brno

Alternative designations

A890 FA

Minor planet category

main belt

Observation arc

100.87 yr (36843 d)

Aphelion

2.93884 AU (439.644 Gm )

Perihelion

1.73612 AU (259.720 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.33748 AU (349.682 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.57 yr (1305.3 d )

Mean anomaly

171.767 °

Mean motion

0° 16 32.851 / day

Inclination

22.3321°

Longitude of ascending node

10.4972°

Argument of perihelion

105.068°

Dimensions

9.822 km

Synodic rotation period

13.807 h (0.5753 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.822

Orbital period

1304.616067765867

Image

290Bruna (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0