(1941) Wild

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

6 October 1931

Named after

Paul Wild (Swiss astronomer)

Alternative designations

1931 TN 1 · 1971 SO 1 , A915 UA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Hilda , Schubart

Observation arc

101.55 yr (37,090 days)

Aphelion

5.0926 AU

Perihelion

2.8115 AU

Semi major axis

3.9520 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.86 yr (2,870 days)

Mean anomaly

288.25 °

Mean motion

0° 7 31.8 / day

Inclination

3.9587°

Longitude of ascending node

60.454°

Argument of perihelion

302.70°

Jupiter moid

0.4044 AU

Dimensions

17.120 ± 0.122 km , 24.30 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

17.12

Orbital period

2876.164568747476

Image

Орбита астероида 1941.png

via Wikidata · CC0