Q157373

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

1 October 1916

Pronunciation

/ ær ə ˈ b ɛ l ə /

Alternative designations

1916 AL; 1928 DJ;, 1930 YQ

Observation arc

85.30 yr (31156 d)

Aphelion

2.4129 AU (360.96 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0983 AU (313.90 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2556 AU (337.43 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.39 yr (1237.3 d )

Mean anomaly

71.2877 °

Mean motion

0° 17 27.42 / day

Inclination

3.7904°

Longitude of ascending node

354.733°

Argument of perihelion

120.347°

Earth moid

1.11599 AU (166.950 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.63388 AU (394.023 Gm)

Synodic rotation period

3.352 ± 0.005 h (0.13967 ± 0.00021 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

7.501

Orbital period

1237.280861276137

via Wikidata · CC0