473 Nolli

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 site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

13 February 1901

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈnɔliː ]

Alternative designations

1901 GC, 1940 CD, 1940 CP, 1981 QR, 1986 PP 4

Minor planet category

Main belt Eunomia family

Observation arc

115.18 yr (42068 d)

Aphelion

2.9454 AU (440.63 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3809 AU (356.18 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6632 AU (398.41 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.35 yr (1587.5 d )

Mean anomaly

229.46 °

Mean motion

0° 13 36.408 / day

Inclination

12.917°

Longitude of ascending node

332.24°

Argument of perihelion

152.30°

Dimensions

~ 13–28 km

Synodic rotation period

3.0785 h (0.12827 d )

via Wikipedia infobox