434 Hungaria

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

Max Wolf

Discovery date

11 September 1898

Pronunciation

/ h ʌ ŋ ˈ ɡ ɛər i ə /

Named after

Hungary

Alternative designations

1898 DR

Minor planet category

Asteroid belt ( Hungaria )

Observation arc

117.58 yr (42946 d)

Aphelion

2.0878 AU (312.33 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8011 AU (269.44 Gm)

Semi major axis

1.9444 AU (290.88 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

2.71 yr (990.34 d )

Mean anomaly

221.145 °

Mean motion

0° 21 48.636 / day

Inclination

22.511°

Longitude of ascending node

175.332°

Argument of perihelion

123.80°

Dimensions

~11 km

Synodic rotation period

26.521 h (1.1050 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

8.934

Orbital period

990.2491781330745

via Wikidata · CC0