1075 Helina

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

29 September 1926

Named after

Helij Neujmin , (discoverer's son)

Alternative designations

1926 SC · 1930 KV, 1965 CB · A906 YG, A916 WH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

110.85 yr (40,489 days)

Aphelion

3.3528 AU

Perihelion

2.6705 AU

Semi major axis

3.0116 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,909 days)

Mean anomaly

156.59 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.96 / day

Inclination

11.523°

Longitude of ascending node

100.81°

Argument of perihelion

250.61°

Mean diameter

26.198 ± 0.414 km , 30.39 ± 7.76 km , 34.48 ± 0.58 km , 35.52 km , 37.93 ± 0.85 km

Synodic rotation period

44.554 ± 0.1526 h , 44.6768 ± 0.0001 h , 44.6770 ± 0.0002 h , 44.677 ± 0.001 h , 44.9 ± 0.1 h

via Wikipedia infobox