Q731286

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

A. Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

11 September 1907

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1907 AD · 1930 SA, 1949 YJ · 1960 PA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

109.79 yr (40,102 days)

Aphelion

2.9166 AU

Perihelion

1.9659 AU

Semi major axis

2.4412 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.81 yr (1,393 days)

Mean anomaly

237.76 °

Mean motion

0° 15 30.24 / day

Inclination

7.3311°

Longitude of ascending node

254.68°

Argument of perihelion

175.79°

Dimensions

9.725 ± 0.092 , 9.769 ± 0.108 km , 9.93 ± 0.59 km , 13.69 ± 0.76 km , 15.52 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

32.202 ± 0.007 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.725

Orbital period

1394.353965952983

via Wikidata · CC0