834 Burnhamia

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

20 September 1916

Pronunciation

/ b ər n ˈ h eɪ m i ə /

Named after

Sherburne Wesley Burnham , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

A916 SG · 1959 CA, 1972 JE · A905 UM, 1916 AD · 1905 UM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

114.27 yr (41,737 d)

Aphelion

3.8256 AU

Perihelion

2.5443 AU

Semi major axis

3.1849 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.68 yr (2,076 d)

Mean anomaly

207.71 °

Mean motion

0° 10 24.24 / day

Inclination

3.9779°

Longitude of ascending node

182.68°

Argument of perihelion

91.320°

Mean diameter

61.278 ± 0.303 km 61.44 ± 2.13 km 66.65 ± 2.4 km

via Wikipedia infobox