Q157083

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

20 April 1914

Named after

Fyodor Bredikhin (1831–1904) (Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

A914 HD · 1914 UO

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

105.79 yr (38,638 d)

Aphelion

3.6852 AU

Perihelion

2.6690 AU

Semi major axis

3.1771 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.66 yr (2,068 d)

Mean anomaly

267.56 °

Mean motion

0° 10 26.4 / day

Inclination

14.518°

Longitude of ascending node

89.766°

Argument of perihelion

133.61°

Dimensions

160.5 km × 80.6 km

Mean diameter

91.60 ± 6.2 km 105.28 ± 3.41 km 108.309 ± 0.868 km 111.47 ± 1.30 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

108.309

Orbital period

2082.758940622705

via Wikidata · CC0