Q151916

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

12 March 1893

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h æ v n i ə /

Named after

Copenhagen

Alternative designations

1893 R

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

116.44 yr (42,528 d)

Aphelion

2.69 AU (402.27 Gm )

Perihelion

2.47 AU (369.18 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.58 AU (385.73 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.14 yr (1,512.3 d)

Mean anomaly

42.5974°

Mean motion

0° 14 16.984 / day

Inclination

8.06864°

Longitude of ascending node

27.3489°

Argument of perihelion

29.6504°

Dimensions

98 km

Synodic rotation period

16.92 h (0.705 d ), 16.919 h (0.7050 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Copenhagen

Followed by

Q151925

Follows

361 Bononia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

98.0

Orbital period

1512.088168232631

via Wikidata · CC0