1149 Volga

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

E. Skvortsov

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

1 August 1929

Named after

Volga River , (Russian river )

Alternative designations

1929 PF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

87.92 yr (32,114 days)

Aphelion

3.1733 AU

Perihelion

2.6228 AU

Semi major axis

2.8981 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.93 yr (1,802 days)

Mean anomaly

258.64 °

Mean motion

0° 11 59.28 / day

Inclination

11.750°

Longitude of ascending node

261.44°

Argument of perihelion

116.40°

Dimensions

48.50 ± 13.27 km , 52.377 ± 0.365 km , 53.86 ± 18.96 km , 55.57 ± 1.8 km , 56.020 ± 1.123 km , 57.67 ± 0.77 km

Synodic rotation period

27.5 h

via Wikipedia infobox