626 Notburga

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

August Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

11 February 1907

Pronunciation

/ n ɒ t ˈ b ɜːr ɡ ə /

Named after

Saint Notburga

Alternative designations

1907 XO

Observation arc

109.14 yr (39863 d)

Aphelion

3.1985 AU (478.49 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9481 AU (291.43 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5733 AU (384.96 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.13 yr (1507.8 d )

Mean anomaly

277.12 °

Mean motion

0° 14 19.536 / day

Inclination

25.371°

Longitude of ascending node

341.645°

Argument of perihelion

43.678°

Mean radius

50.365 ± 1 km , 48.42 ± 2.335 km

Mass

(3.24 ± 1.30) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

627 Charis

Follows

625 Xenia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

73.236

Orbital period

1508.451052565008

via Wikidata · CC0