870 Manto

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

12 May 1917

Pronunciation

/ ˈ m æ n t oʊ /

Named after

Μαντώ Mantō ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

A917 JC · 1935 NB, 1935 QV · 1953 UE 1 , A907 TF · A914 UC, 1917 BX · 1907 TF, 1914 UC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Adjectives

Mantoian / m æ n ˈ t oʊ . i ə n /

Observation arc

102.14 yr (37,307 d)

Aphelion

2.9379 AU

Perihelion

1.7065 AU

Semi major axis

2.3222 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.54 yr (1,293 d)

Mean anomaly

343.87 °

Mean motion

0° 16 42.6 / day

Inclination

6.1928°

Longitude of ascending node

120.80°

Argument of perihelion

196.89°

via Wikipedia infobox