1405 Sibelius

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

12 September 1936

Named after

Jean Sibelius , (Finnish composer)

Alternative designations

1936 RE · 1951 CO, 1953 VK 3 · 1963 ST

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

66.40 yr (24,254 days)

Aphelion

2.5817 AU

Perihelion

1.9215 AU

Semi major axis

2.2516 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.38 yr (1,234 days)

Mean anomaly

312.34 °

Mean motion

0° 17 30.12 / day

Inclination

7.0301°

Longitude of ascending node

312.08°

Argument of perihelion

95.795°

Dimensions

6.21 ± 0.35 km , 6.810 ± 0.098 km , 7.175 ± 0.089 km , 7.20 km (taken) , 7.204 km , 9.26 ± 1.95 km , 12.18 ± 1.1 km

Synodic rotation period

6.051 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Jean Sibelius

Followed by

(1406) Komppa

Follows

1404 Ajax

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

6.81

Orbital period

1233.803421693097

via Wikidata · CC0