Q152371

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

Max Wolf

Discovery date

4 November 1894

Pronunciation

/ ˌ w ɪ l h ɛ l ˈ m iː n ə , w ɪ l ə ˈ m iː n ə /

Named after

Queen Wilhelmina

Alternative designations

1894 BF

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

121.38 yr (44333 d)

Aphelion

3.29116 AU (492.351 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4759 AU (370.39 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.88354 AU (431.371 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.90 yr (1788.5 d )

Mean anomaly

322.000 °

Mean motion

0° 12 4.633 / day

Inclination

14.321°

Longitude of ascending node

209.819°

Argument of perihelion

174.112°

Dimensions

62.88 ± 1.5 km

Synodic rotation period

17.96 h (0.748 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

60.75

Orbital period

1790.677590631774

via Wikidata · CC0