491 Carina

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

Discovery date

3 September 1902

Alternative designations

1902 JQ

Observation arc

113.62 yr (41501 d)

Aphelion

3.4709 AU (519.24 Gm )

Perihelion

2.9118 AU (435.60 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1914 AU (477.43 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.70 yr (2082.4 d )

Mean anomaly

295.527 °

Mean motion

0° 10 22.368 / day

Inclination

18.863°

Longitude of ascending node

175.423°

Argument of perihelion

233.431°

Mean diameter

91.176 ± 0.469 km

Mass

(1.353 ± 0.769/0.297) × 10 kg

Mean density

3.408 ± 1.937/0.749 g/cm

Synodic rotation period

15.153 h (0.6314 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

492 Gismonda

Follows

490 Veritas

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

91.176

Orbital period

2083.047624288191

via Wikidata · CC0