Q158084

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

23 March 1920

Named after

Herbert Hoover , (U.S. Secretary of Commerce)

Alternative designations

A920 FC · 1920 GV, A909 GG · 1909 GG, A912 BD · 1912 BD, A913 MD · 1913 MD, A914 TF · 1914 TF, 1950 HQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

99.79 yr (36,448 d)

Aphelion

2.6386 AU

Perihelion

2.2002 AU

Semi major axis

2.4194 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.76 yr (1,375 d)

Mean anomaly

331.44 °

Mean motion

0° 15 42.84 / day

Inclination

8.1137°

Longitude of ascending node

14.956°

Argument of perihelion

50.025°

Mean diameter

58.978 ± 0.804 km 60.20 ± 0.71 km

Synodic rotation period

78.44 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

58.978

Orbital period

1374.446769430936

via Wikidata · CC0