360 Carlova

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

11 March 1893

Alternative designations

1893 N

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Carlovian

Observation arc

111.79 yr (40832 d)

Aphelion

3.53698 AU (529.125 Gm )

Perihelion

2.46807 AU (369.218 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.00253 AU (449.172 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.20 yr (1900.3 d )

Mean anomaly

350.473 °

Mean motion

0° 11 21.988 / day

Inclination

11.6967°

Longitude of ascending node

132.551°

Argument of perihelion

287.862°

Dimensions

115.76 ± 4.3 km

Synodic rotation period

6.183 h (0.2576 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0535 ± 0.004

via Wikipedia infobox