Q155521

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

14 January 1905

Pronunciation

Italian: [ ˈnɔrma ]

Named after

Norma , (character in Bellini 's opera)

Alternative designations

1905 PT · 1928 FS, 1939 BA · 1950 CC, 1954 UH 2 · 1968 HE 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) · background

Observation arc

112.20 yr (40,981 days)

Aphelion

3.6636 AU

Perihelion

2.7105 AU

Semi major axis

3.1870 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.69 yr (2,078 days)

Mean anomaly

343.66 °

Mean motion

0° 10 23.52 / day

Inclination

2.6462°

Longitude of ascending node

130.43°

Argument of perihelion

356.51°

Dimensions

27.89 ± 0.68 km , 31.040 ± 0.150 km , 31.80 ± 0.58 km , 32.541 ± 0.215 km , 33 ± 3 km , 33.0 ± 3.3 km , 40.02 km (derived) , 40.11 ± 1.5 km

via Wikipedia infobox