Q152364

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

F. Börngen

Discovery site

Karl Schwarzschild Obs.

Discovery date

15 February 1961

Named after

Franz Schubert , (Austrian composer)

Alternative designations

1961 CX · 1976 GT 2 , 1977 RU 1 · 1981 TY 3 , 1987 HU 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

56.70 yr (20,711 days)

Aphelion

2.4102 AU

Perihelion

2.3064 AU

Semi major axis

2.3583 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.62 yr (1,323 days)

Mean anomaly

278.00 °

Mean motion

0° 16 19.56 / day

Inclination

2.4275°

Longitude of ascending node

137.12°

Argument of perihelion

298.90°

Dimensions

5.129 ± 0.123 km

Geometric albedo

0.321 ± 0.041

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Franz Schubert

Followed by

3918 Brel

Follows

3916 Maeva

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

5.129

Orbital period

1323.276891425264

via Wikidata · CC0