Q918858

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

22 September 1919

Named after

Nicholas T. Bobrovnikoff , (Russian-born astronomer)

Alternative designations

A919 SB · 1953 TL, 1963 RB · 1976 JB 7 , 1980 TN 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

98.35 yr (35,922 d)

Aphelion

2.7846 AU

Perihelion

1.7257 AU

Semi major axis

2.2551 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.39 yr (1,237 d)

Mean anomaly

41.979 °

Mean motion

0° 17 27.6 / day

Inclination

4.9312°

Longitude of ascending node

356.13°

Argument of perihelion

343.65°

Mean diameter

5.82 ± 0.95 km , 5.97 ± 1.05 km , 6.21 ± 0.10 km , 6.919 ± 0.094 km , 7.46 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

4.7939 ± 0.0003 h

via Wikipedia infobox