Q157817

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

30 November 1918

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b uː d ə /

Named after

Buda , part of the Hungarian , city of Budapest

Alternative designations

A918 WD · 1963 ME, 1918 EX

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

101.18 yr (36,957 d)

Aphelion

2.8390 AU

Perihelion

2.1072 AU

Semi major axis

2.4731 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.89 yr (1,421 d)

Mean anomaly

357.41 °

Mean motion

0° 15 12.24 / day

Inclination

13.415°

Longitude of ascending node

85.551°

Argument of perihelion

23.523°

Mean diameter

24.37 ± 1.1 km 28.29 ± 0.61 km 30.749 ± 0.492 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

30.749

Orbital period

1421.169711585395

Image

000908-asteroid shape model (908) Buda.png

via Wikidata · CC0