(1047) Geisha

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

17 November 1924

Named after

The Geisha , (British musical)

Alternative designations

1924 TE · 1932 BP, 1941 YG · 1947 NC, 1950 JF · 1974 HU 2 , A916 HB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

92.63 yr (33,833 d )

Aphelion

2.6723 AU

Perihelion

1.8094 AU

Semi major axis

2.2409 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,225 days)

Mean anomaly

256.96 °

Mean motion

0° 17 37.68 / day

Inclination

5.6667°

Longitude of ascending node

78.223°

Argument of perihelion

300.39°

Dimensions

9.96 ± 2.15 km , 10.555 ± 0.095 km , 10.729 ± 0.112 km , 11.52 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

25.62 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox