Q156335

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

A. Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

23 July 1908

Pronunciation

/ d ɛ z d ɪ ˈ m oʊ n ə /

Named after

Desdemona , (character in Othello )

Alternative designations

1908 DM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

107.90 yr (39,410 days)

Aphelion

3.2102 AU

Perihelion

1.9755 AU

Semi major axis

2.5928 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.18 yr (1,525 days)

Mean anomaly

309.91 °

Mean motion

0° 14 9.96 / day

Inclination

7.5856°

Longitude of ascending node

215.41°

Argument of perihelion

174.16°

Dimensions

27.04 ± 1.0 km ( IRAS :17) , 27.22 km (derived) , 27.37 ± 0.71 km , 31.485 ± 0.116 km , 32.74 ± 0.37 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

32.741

Orbital period

1526.144825176447

via Wikidata · CC0