19521 Chaos

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

Deep Ecliptic Survey

Discovery date

19 November 1998

Pronunciation

/ ˈ k eɪ . ɒ s /

Named after

Chaos

Alternative designations

1998 WH 24

Minor planet category

TNO ( cubewano )

Adjectives

Chaotian / k eɪ ˈ oʊ ʃ ən /

Symbol

(astrological)

Observation arc

5902 days (16.16 yr)

Earliest precovery date

17 October 1991

Aphelion

50.636 AU (7.5750 Tm )

Perihelion

40.957 AU (6.1271 Tm)

Semi major axis

45.796 AU (6.8510 Tm)

Orbital period sidereal

309.92 yr (113199 d )

Average orbital speed

4.3931 km/s

Mean anomaly

337.2998 °

Mean motion

0° 0 11.449 / day

Inclination

12.0502°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

trans-Neptunian object

Named after

Chaos

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

cubewano

Diameter

600

Radius

300

Orbital period

114360.2949613161

Image

19521-chaos hst.jpg

Significant event

occultation

via Wikidata · CC0