1944 Günter

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

14 September 1925

Named after

Günter Reinmuth, (son of discoverer)

Alternative designations

1925 RA · 1972 TY 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

91.52 yr (33,426 days)

Aphelion

2.7709 AU

Perihelion

1.7080 AU

Semi major axis

2.2394 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,224 days)

Mean anomaly

166.20 °

Mean motion

0° 17 38.76 / day

Inclination

5.4892°

Longitude of ascending node

212.44°

Argument of perihelion

124.82°

Dimensions

4.905 ± 0.070 km

Geometric albedo

0.117 ± 0.015

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q146249

Follows

Q146229

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

4.905

Orbital period

1224.549309162914

via Wikidata · CC0