706 Hirundo

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

J. Helffrich

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

9 October 1910

Pronunciation

/ h ɪ ˈ r ʌ n d oʊ /

Named after

Hirundo (swallows) , (Genus of birds)

Alternative designations

A910 TF · 1948 AE, 1957 DA · 1977 QB, A924 WD · 1910 KX

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Adjectives

Hirundinian / h ɪr ə n ˈ d ɪ n i ə n /

Observation arc

109.55 yr (40,014 d)

Aphelion

3.2601 AU

Perihelion

2.1987 AU

Semi major axis

2.7294 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.51 yr (1,647 d)

Mean anomaly

124.52 °

Mean motion

0° 13 6.96 / day

Inclination

14.431°

Longitude of ascending node

325.34°

Argument of perihelion

31.090°

via Wikipedia infobox