Q530900

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

E. Bowell

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

15 September 1982

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s oʊ m ə /

Named after

Soma cube , (mechanical puzzle)

Alternative designations

1982 RL · 1955 MH, 1970 AC · 1974 DL, 1979 XB 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

61.77 yr (22,562 days)

Aphelion

2.6107 AU

Perihelion

1.8552 AU

Semi major axis

2.2329 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,219 days)

Mean anomaly

168.50 °

Mean motion

0° 17 43.44 / day

Inclination

5.7042°

Longitude of ascending node

119.87°

Argument of perihelion

237.53°

Known satellites

1 , ( D s /D p : 0.25 ± 0.02 ), ( orbital period : 17.915 h )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Soma cube

Followed by

Q777029

Follows

Q684756

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

6.641

Orbital period

1218.912116206552

via Wikidata · CC0