705 Erminia

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

E. Ernst

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

6 October 1910

Pronunciation

/ ər ˈ m ɪ n i ə /

Alternative designations

1910 KV

Observation arc

105.53 yr (38544 d)

Aphelion

3.0635189 AU (458.29590 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7809463 AU (416.02365 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.92223259 AU (437.159773 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.00 yr (1824.6 d )

Mean anomaly

348.73426 °

Mean motion

0° 11 50.288 / day

Inclination

25.045517°

Longitude of ascending node

2.8949214°

Argument of perihelion

101.35517°

Dimensions

128 km × 141 km (occultation)

Mean diameter

132.261 ± 1.178 km , 70–130 km (assumed albedo=0.05–0.3), 134.22 ±2.3 (IRAS), 133.9–134.5 (albedo estimate)

Mass

(4.12 ± 1.775/0.942) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox