1026 Ingrid

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

13 August 1923

Named after

Ingrid, niece of astronomer Albrecht Kahrstedt

Alternative designations

1923 NY · 1957 UC, 1963 GD · 1981 WL 8 , 1986 CG 2 · 1986 ES 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

93.89 yr (34,294 days)

Aphelion

2.6636 AU

Perihelion

1.8458 AU

Semi major axis

2.2547 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.39 yr (1,237 days)

Mean anomaly

292.55 °

Mean motion

0° 17 27.96 / day

Inclination

5.3994°

Longitude of ascending node

104.59°

Argument of perihelion

212.34°

Dimensions

5.73 ± 1.01 km , 6.96 ± 0.68 km , 7.353 ± 0.082 km , 7.670 ± 0.069 km , 8.19 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

5 h

via Wikipedia infobox