Q158421

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

S. Belyavskyj

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

18 May 1922

Named after

Aida Minaevna, (discoverer's friend)

Alternative designations

1922 LY · 1929 YA, 1946 QD · 1966 BD, A906 VB · A923 YA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

110.15 yr (40,232 days)

Aphelion

3.9462 AU

Perihelion

2.4492 AU

Semi major axis

3.1977 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.72 yr (2,089 days)

Mean anomaly

119.30 °

Mean motion

0° 10 20.64 / day

Inclination

21.645°

Longitude of ascending node

216.64°

Argument of perihelion

132.94°

Dimensions

78.73 ± 2.3 km ( IRAS :17) , 78.78 ± 29.26 km , 79.54 ± 22.88 km , 82.28 ± 2.71 km , 92.105 ± 0.764 km

Synodic rotation period

9.5 h , 10.098 ± 0.001 h , 10.099 ± 0.004 h , 10.100 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox