623 Chimaera

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

K. Lohnert

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

22 January 1907

Pronunciation

/ k aɪ ˈ m ɪər ə / ky- MEER -ə

Named after

Chimera

Alternative designations

1907 XJ

Observation arc

106.49 yr (38896 d)

Aphelion

2.7396 AU (409.84 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1819 AU (326.41 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.4607 AU (368.12 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.86 yr (1409.9 d )

Mean anomaly

186.178 °

Mean motion

0° 15 19.224 / day

Inclination

14.127°

Longitude of ascending node

308.337°

Argument of perihelion

124.416°

Mean radius

22.045 ± 0.5 km

Synodic rotation period

14.635 h (0.6098 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

44.09

Orbital period

1410.235779332181

via Wikidata · CC0