Q158137

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

10 October 1920

Named after

Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote

Alternative designations

A920 TE · 1947 BG, 1947 EB · 1954 DB, 1963 PC · 1920 HT

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Cybele

Observation arc

99.24 yr (36,248 d)

Aphelion

3.9375 AU

Perihelion

2.7940 AU

Semi major axis

3.3657 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.17 yr (2,255 d)

Mean anomaly

41.359 °

Mean motion

0° 9 34.56 / day

Inclination

6.2428°

Longitude of ascending node

66.320°

Argument of perihelion

283.51°

Mean diameter

79.852 ± 0.504 km 87.21 ± 2.6 km 87.65 ± 1.50 km

Synodic rotation period

15.57 ± 0.36 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

79.852

Orbital period

2256.657044468545

via Wikidata · CC0