Q157429

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

S. Beljavskij

Discovery site

Simeis

Discovery date

2 April 1916

Pronunciation

/ ˈ z aɪ s i ə /

Alternative designations

1916 S26; SIGMA 26;, 1950 NS1; 1950 PA1

Observation arc

90.03 yr (32885 d)

Aphelion

2.4286 AU (363.31 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0276 AU (303.32 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2281 AU (333.32 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.33 yr (1214.8 d )

Mean anomaly

101.520 °

Mean motion

0° 17 46.86 / day

Inclination

2.3920°

Longitude of ascending node

141.204°

Argument of perihelion

7.2372°

Mean radius

6.13 ± 0.5 km

Synodic rotation period

9.34 h (0.389 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2646 ± 0.050

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

12.642

Orbital period

1214.729084307942

via Wikidata · CC0