1204 Renzia

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

6 October 1931 ; 94 years ago ( 1931-10-06 )

Named after

Franz Robert Renz , (German-Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1931 TE

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

85.99 yr (31,407 days)

Aphelion

2.9279 AU

Perihelion

1.5984 AU

Semi major axis

2.2632 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.40 yr (1,244 days)

Mean anomaly

110.18 °

Mean motion

0° 17 22.2 / day

Inclination

1.8796°

Longitude of ascending node

7.5758°

Argument of perihelion

313.75°

Earth moid

0.5861 AU · 228.3 LD

Mars moid

0.2114 AU

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

1205 Ebella

Follows

1203 Nanna

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Orbital period

1242.935668381096

Image

001204-asteroid shape model (1204) Renzia.png

via Wikidata · CC0