Q151271

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

2 February 1910

Pronunciation

/ æ d əl ˈ b ɜːr t ə /

Named after

Adalbert Merx, (discoverer's family) , Adalbert Krüger (astronomer)

Alternative designations

A910 CB · 1937 AD, 1951 SW · 1974 OQ, 1978 PS 1 · 1978 QJ 3 , 1980 EE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

106.36 yr (38,848 days)

Aphelion

3.0929 AU

Perihelion

1.8426 AU

Semi major axis

2.4677 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.88 yr (1,416 days)

Mean anomaly

283.89 °

Mean motion

0° 15 15.12 / day

Inclination

6.7569°

Longitude of ascending node

137.14°

Argument of perihelion

259.26°

Mean diameter

9.111 ± 0.303 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.111

Orbital period

1417.086629980059

via Wikidata · CC0