Q156076

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

8 September 1907

Pronunciation

/ ˈ æ ɡ n ɪ s / , German: [ ˈaːɡnɛs, ˈaŋnəs ]

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1907 ZX · 1952 FD 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

109.38 yr (39,951 days)

Aphelion

2.5055 AU

Perihelion

1.9346 AU

Semi major axis

2.2200 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.31 yr (1,208 days)

Mean anomaly

335.75 °

Mean motion

0° 17 52.8 / day

Inclination

1.7119°

Longitude of ascending node

41.020°

Argument of perihelion

17.704°

Dimensions

8.26 ± 1.42 km , 8.81 km (calculated) , 9 ± 2 km , 9.24 ± 0.64 km , 9.446 ± 0.166 km , 9.74 ± 2.66 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.446

Orbital period

1208.242923767798

via Wikidata · CC0