Q157639

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. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

3 January 1918

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ l ɪ n d ə /

Named after

Alinda (city) or, Aboriginal mythology

Alternative designations

1918 DB

Minor planet category

Amor NEO Alinda group

Observation arc

97.42 yr (35,582 days)

Aphelion

3.8846 AU (581.13 Gm )

Perihelion

1.0731 AU (160.53 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.4788 AU (370.82 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.90 yr (1425.5 d )

Mean anomaly

300.87 °

Mean motion

0° 15 9.144 / day

Inclination

9.3563°

Longitude of ascending node

110.55°

Argument of perihelion

350.34°

Earth moid

0.0907705 AU (13.57907 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox