378 Holmia

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

6 December 1893

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h oʊ ( l ) m i ə /

Named after

Stockholm

Alternative designations

A893 XA · 1953 XS 1 · 1960 FJ · 1962 TP · 1962 UC · 1979 KP 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

131.53 yr (48040 d)

Aphelion

3.1363 AU (469.18 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4170 AU (361.58 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7767 AU (415.39 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.6269 yr (1690.0 d )

Average orbital speed

17.88 km/s

Mean anomaly

217.667°

Mean motion

0° 12 46.8 / day

Inclination

7.0123°

Longitude of ascending node

232.356°

Argument of perihelion

156.671°

Jupiter moid

2.3037 AU

via Wikipedia infobox