1296 Andrée

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

L. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

25 November 1933

Named after

Andrée (discoverer's niece)

Alternative designations

1933 WE · 1925 TA, 1929 TH · 1931 HF

Minor planet category

main-belt · Nysa

Observation arc

91.41 yr (33,386 days)

Aphelion

2.7613 AU

Perihelion

2.0737 AU

Semi major axis

2.4175 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.76 yr (1,373 days)

Mean anomaly

21.785 °

Mean motion

0° 15 43.92 / day

Inclination

4.1067°

Longitude of ascending node

227.00°

Argument of perihelion

236.76°

Dimensions

20.66 ± 4.94 km , 22.20 ± 5.74 km , 25.07 km (derived) , 25.25 ± 1.6 km ( IRAS :24) , 25.52 ± 0.36 km , 26.298 ± 0.082 km , 28.045 ± 0.370 km

Synodic rotation period

5.178 ± 0.006 h , 5.183 66 ± 0.000 07 h

via Wikipedia infobox