1257 Móra

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

8 August 1932

Named after

Kráoly Móra, (Hungarian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1932 PE · 1928 QA, 1935 KL · 1964 VO, 1964 WA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

88.80 yr (32,434 days)

Aphelion

2.6962 AU

Perihelion

2.2815 AU

Semi major axis

2.4888 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.93 yr (1,434 days)

Mean anomaly

335.03 °

Mean motion

0° 15 3.6 / day

Inclination

3.9231°

Longitude of ascending node

213.94°

Argument of perihelion

18.983°

Dimensions

10.79 km (derived) , 14.72 ± 4.32 km , 17.05 ± 6.10 km , 21.392 ± 1.126 km , 21.47 ± 0.64 km

Synodic rotation period

5.28 h , 5.2948 ± 0.0004 h , 5.3 ± 0.1 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

21.392

Orbital period

1433.475386465945

via Wikidata · CC0