2278 Götz

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

7 April 1953

Named after

Paul Götz , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1953 GE · 1953 GR 1 , 1976 GE 2 · 1976 JG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

65.12 yr (23,784 d)

Aphelion

2.8190 AU

Perihelion

2.0867 AU

Semi major axis

2.4528 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.84 yr (1,403 d)

Mean anomaly

284.69 °

Mean motion

0° 15 23.76 / day

Inclination

4.2036°

Longitude of ascending node

53.419°

Argument of perihelion

207.18°

Mean diameter

11.769 ± 0.057 km

Geometric albedo

0.039 ± 0.009

via Wikipedia infobox