1095 Tulipa

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

14 April 1926

Pronunciation

/ tj uː ˈ l aɪ p ə /

Named after

Tulīpa ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1926 GS · 1936 FE 1 , 1937 LQ · 1939 VG, 1941 CC · 1942 JG, 1942 KB · 1952 FE 1 , 1954 SO · 1954 UG 3 , 1955 XO · 1956 AD 1 , 1959 RM · 1965 VB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

90.50 yr (33,056 days)

Aphelion

3.0918 AU

Perihelion

2.9581 AU

Semi major axis

3.0250 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.26 yr (1,922 days)

Mean anomaly

181.76 °

Mean motion

0° 11 14.28 / day

Inclination

10.030°

Longitude of ascending node

178.54°

Argument of perihelion

342.69°

Mean diameter

27.875 ± 0.362 km , 28.38 ± 0.58 km , 28.390 ± 0.124 km , 31.52 ± 1.7 km , 31.53 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox