Q158034

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

20 October 1919

Named after

Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote

Alternative designations

A919 UF · 1919 GC, A906 BA · 1906 BA, A914 UD · 1914 UD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

113.78 yr (41,557 d)

Aphelion

3.3879 AU

Perihelion

2.4888 AU

Semi major axis

2.9383 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.04 yr (1,840 d)

Mean anomaly

355.92 °

Mean motion

0° 11 44.52 / day

Inclination

8.9872°

Longitude of ascending node

150.19°

Argument of perihelion

219.96°

Mean diameter

71.983 ± 25.283 km 78.33 ± 1.34 km 85.49 ± 2.5 km

Synodic rotation period

19.437 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

85.49

Orbital period

1839.919694582857

via Wikidata · CC0