Q530697

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

13 September 1955

Named after

Otto Struve , (Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1955 RX · 1935 UP, 1955 SA 2 · 1962 WL 2 , 1965 SV · 1970 ET 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

81.54 yr (29,781 days)

Aphelion

2.6265 AU

Perihelion

1.8468 AU

Semi major axis

2.2366 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,222 days)

Mean anomaly

140.74 °

Mean motion

0° 17 40.92 / day

Inclination

4.9496°

Longitude of ascending node

178.90°

Argument of perihelion

254.10°

Dimensions

4.668 ± 0.071 , 9 ± 4 (generic)

Geometric albedo

0.388 ± 0.112

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

4.668

Orbital period

1221.22273072439

Image

Орбита астероида 2227.png

via Wikidata · CC0