1957 Angara

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

L. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

1 April 1970

Named after

Angara River , (Siberian river)

Alternative designations

1970 GF · 1962 WG 1 , 1969 AA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

60.58 yr (22,126 days)

Aphelion

3.1828 AU

Perihelion

2.8338 AU

Semi major axis

3.0083 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.22 yr (1,906 days)

Mean anomaly

345.36 °

Mean motion

0° 11 20.04 / day

Inclination

11.191°

Longitude of ascending node

50.702°

Argument of perihelion

209.03°

Dimensions

17.907 ± 0.108 km , 18.189 ± 0.229 km , 18.38 km (derived) , 21.44 ± 0.70 km , 30.41 ± 0.58 km

Synodic rotation period

3.67 h

via Wikipedia infobox