1089 Tama

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

O. Oikawa

Discovery site

Tokyo Astronomical Obs.

Discovery date

17 November 1927

Pronunciation

Japanese: [ tama ]

Named after

Tama River , (Japanese river )

Alternative designations

1927 WB · 1930 ST, 1952 HE 4 · A894 VA, A904 VD · A919 HA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora · background

Observation arc

122.40 yr (44,708 days)

Aphelion

2.4951 AU

Perihelion

1.9327 AU

Semi major axis

2.2139 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.29 yr (1,203 days)

Mean anomaly

82.843 °

Mean motion

0° 17 57.12 / day

Inclination

3.7264°

Longitude of ascending node

71.489°

Argument of perihelion

354.29°

Dimensions

11.33 ± 2.00 km , 12.2 ± 1.6 km , 12.82 km (derived) , 12.92 ± 0.6 km , 13.08 ± 0.37 km , 13.082 ± 0.373 km , 13.32 ± 0.19 km

via Wikipedia infobox