Q155338

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

H. Goldschmidt

Discovery date

10 September 1858

Pronunciation

/ ˌ æ l ɪ ɡ ˈ z æ n d r ə , - ˈ z ɑː n -/ AL -ig- ZA(H)N -drə

Named after

Alexander von Humboldt , (German explorer)

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Alexandrian

Aphelion

485.483 million km (3.245 AU )

Perihelion

326.043 million km (2.179 AU)

Semi major axis

405.763 million km (2.712 AU)

Orbital period sidereal

1,631.620 d (4.47 a )

Mean anomaly

103.809°

Inclination

11.804°

Longitude of ascending node

313.446°

Argument of perihelion

345.594°

Dimensions

160 × 135 km (± 1 km)

Mean diameter

154.137 km

Mass

(6.16 ± 3.50) × 10 kg

Mean density

3.50 ± 2.11 g/cm

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

160.12

Orbital period

1631.816340331798

Image

54Alexandra (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0