Q157380

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

H. Thiele

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

30 September 1916

Pronunciation

/ n ɪ k ə ˈ l eɪ ə /

Named after

Thorvald Nicolai Thiele

Alternative designations

1916 AN

Observation arc

98.61 yr (36018 d)

Aphelion

2.7576 AU (412.53 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8007 AU (269.38 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2792 AU (340.96 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.44 yr (1256.8 d )

Mean anomaly

31.275 °

Mean motion

0° 17 11.22 / day

Inclination

8.0014°

Longitude of ascending node

4.0938°

Argument of perihelion

317.16°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Orbital period

1256.352220401371

via Wikidata · CC0