Q154574

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

Luigi Carnera

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

20 February 1901

Pronunciation

/ ɑːr dʒ ə n ˈ t aɪ n ə /

Named after

Argentina

Alternative designations

1901 GE

Minor planet category

main belt

Adjectives

Argentinian / ɑːr dʒ ə n ˈ t ɪ n i ə n /

Observation arc

109.08 yr (39840 d)

Aphelion

3.68734 AU (551.618 Gm )

Perihelion

2.67484 AU (400.150 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.18109 AU (475.884 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.67 yr (2072.3 d )

Mean anomaly

153.115 °

Mean motion

0° 10 25.378 / day

Inclination

11.5955°

Longitude of ascending node

333.476°

Argument of perihelion

209.588°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

133.718

Orbital period

2069.780319197027

via Wikidata · CC0