(16780) 1996 XT1

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

(16780) 1996 XT1

Orbit class

Main-belt

Semi-major axis

2.880 AU

Eccentricity

0.077

Inclination

3.225 °

Absolute magnitude

13.950 H

via Minor Planet Center

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

16781 Renčín

Follows

16779 Mittelman

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

4.507

Orbital period

1781.17115333545

via Wikidata · CC0