Q157274

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

31 March 1916

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

A916 GH · 1930 HC, 1930 HO · 1930 HT, 1916 ZC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

103.84 yr (37,928 d)

Aphelion

3.3602 AU

Perihelion

2.1833 AU

Semi major axis

2.7718 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.61 yr (1,686 d)

Mean anomaly

150.41 °

Mean motion

0° 12 48.96 / day

Inclination

5.3989°

Longitude of ascending node

209.76°

Argument of perihelion

32.862°

Mean diameter

28.77 ± 1.00 km 28.856 ± 0.168 km

Synodic rotation period

236.6 h 230.6 ± 0.3 h 236.6 ± 0.3 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

28.856

Orbital period

1690.954229968677

via Wikidata · CC0