1318 Nerina

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

C. Jackson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

24 March 1934

Pronunciation

/ n ɪ ˈ r aɪ n ɑː /

Named after

Nerine , ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1934 FG · 1955 FA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea

Observation arc

84.16 yr (30,740 d)

Aphelion

2.7778 AU

Perihelion

1.8368 AU

Semi major axis

2.3073 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.50 yr (1,280 d)

Mean anomaly

346.11 °

Mean motion

0° 16 52.32 / day

Inclination

24.663°

Longitude of ascending node

358.33°

Argument of perihelion

196.24°

Mean diameter

10.68 ± 0.72 km , 13.02 ± 0.6 km , 13.272 ± 0.213 km

via Wikipedia infobox