Q158378

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

29 November 1921

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p r ɪ m j ʊ l ə /

Named after

Primula , (genus of flowers)

Alternative designations

A921 WK · 1929 RN, 1966 TG · 1921 LB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

98.11 yr (35,834 d)

Aphelion

3.2552 AU

Perihelion

1.8644 AU

Semi major axis

2.5598 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.10 yr (1,496 d)

Mean anomaly

17.501 °

Mean motion

0° 14 26.52 / day

Inclination

5.0331°

Longitude of ascending node

310.77°

Argument of perihelion

95.564°

Mean diameter

9.204 ± 0.289 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.204

Orbital period

1494.680021158445

via Wikidata · CC0