Q156994

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

F. Kaiser

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

26 September 1913

Pronunciation

/ ɡ ɪ ˈ d eɪ n i ə /

Named after

City of Gdańsk

Alternative designations

A913 SF · A902 WD, A908 YE · A918 TA, 1913 SU

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

117.43 yr (42,893 d)

Aphelion

3.5027 AU

Perihelion

2.9000 AU

Semi major axis

3.2013 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.73 yr (2,092 d)

Mean anomaly

242.58 °

Mean motion

0° 10 19.56 / day

Inclination

10.018°

Longitude of ascending node

258.94°

Argument of perihelion

156.65°

Mean diameter

58.28 ± 1.4 km 64.338 ± 14.27 km 74.59 ± 1.39 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

58.28

Orbital period

2086.674210097712

via Wikidata · CC0