Q157125

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

27 August 1914

Pronunciation

/ ɪr ɪ ˈ n iː ə /

Named after

Irene Hillebrand, daughter of Edmund Weiss , (Austrian astronomer )

Alternative designations

A914 QB · 1930 KH, 1936 QK · 1947 QD, 1953 TT 2 · 1914 VB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

83.12 yr (30,360 d)

Aphelion

4.0559 AU

Perihelion

2.2004 AU

Semi major axis

3.1281 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.53 yr (2,021 d)

Mean anomaly

31.160 °

Mean motion

0° 10 41.16 / day

Inclination

5.4193°

Longitude of ascending node

160.40°

Argument of perihelion

131.27°

Mean diameter

35.703 ± 6.145 km 35.75 ± 3.6 km 38.00 ± 1.35 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

35.703

Orbital period

2024.689423900103

via Wikidata · CC0