624 Hektor

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

A. Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

10 February 1907

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h ɛ k t ər /

Named after

Hector (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1907 XM; 1948 VD

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan · Hektor , Greeks

Adjectives

Hektorean or Hektorian , (both / h ɛ k ˈ t ɔːr i ə n / )

Observation arc

111.28 yr (40,646 d)

Aphelion

5.3824 AU

Perihelion

5.1319 AU

Semi major axis

5.2571 AU

Orbital period sidereal

12.05 yr (4,403 d)

Mean anomaly

136.09 °

Mean motion

0° 4 54.48 / day

Inclination

18.166°

Longitude of ascending node

342.79°

Argument of perihelion

185.22°

via Wikipedia infobox