Q158074

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

F. Gonnessiat

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

19 March 1920

Named after

Thomas Whittemore , (American archaeologist)

Alternative designations

A920 FB · 1920 GU, A904 HB · 1904 HB

Minor planet category

main-belt ( outer ) background

Observation arc

115.71 yr (42,264 d)

Aphelion

3.9061 AU

Perihelion

2.4319 AU

Semi major axis

3.1690 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2,061 d)

Mean anomaly

340.57 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.92 / day

Inclination

11.484°

Longitude of ascending node

111.00°

Argument of perihelion

315.45°

Mean diameter

54 ± 2 km

Synodic rotation period

19.199 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

45.298

Orbital period

2058.103516202714

via Wikidata · CC0