Q157993

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

5 September 1915

Named after

Lyka, a friend of the discoverer's sister

Alternative designations

A915 RR · 1950 BS, 1951 JJ · 1915 S4, 1915 Σ4

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

100.18 yr (36,591 d)

Aphelion

2.8590 AU

Perihelion

1.9035 AU

Semi major axis

2.3812 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.67 yr (1,342 d)

Mean anomaly

181.91 °

Mean motion

0° 16 5.52 / day

Inclination

5.1264°

Longitude of ascending node

343.38°

Argument of perihelion

359.90°

Mean diameter

28.10 ± 3.9 km 31.29 ± 0.49 km 34.878 ± 0.184 km

Synodic rotation period

7.867 ± 0.006 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

34.878

Orbital period

1342.344673910625

via Wikidata · CC0