849 Ara

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

S. Belyavskyj

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

9 February 1912

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɛər ə /

Named after

American Relief Administration

Alternative designations

A912 CD · 1935 FU, 1960 WN · A915 UB, 1912 NY · 1915 Σai

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

100.58 yr (36,737 d)

Aphelion

3.7783 AU

Perihelion

2.5141 AU

Semi major axis

3.1462 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.58 yr (2,038 d)

Mean anomaly

323.29 °

Mean motion

0° 10 35.76 / day

Inclination

19.530°

Longitude of ascending node

228.37°

Argument of perihelion

63.293°

Dimensions

97.5 km × 70.7 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

80.756

Orbital period

2038.291903601445

Image

849Ara (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0