770 Bali

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. Massinger

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

31 October 1913

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b æ l i / , / ˈ b ɑː l i /

Named after

Bali (Indonesian island)

Alternative designations

1913 TE

Observation arc

113.62 yr (41,501 days)

Aphelion

2.5557 AU

Perihelion

1.8876 AU

Semi major axis

2.2216 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.31 yr (1,209 days)

Mean anomaly

119.08 °

Mean motion

0° 17 51.36 / day

Inclination

4.3849°

Longitude of ascending node

44.697°

Argument of perihelion

18.069°

Mean diameter

16.388 ± 0.286 km

Synodic rotation period

5.8199 ± 0.0001 h (0.24250 ± 4.1667 × 10 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

16.388

Orbital period

1209.008962763546

Image

770Bali (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0