891 Gunhild

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

17 May 1918

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

A918 KB · 1977 FH, 1999 CF 154 · A915 VE , 1918 DQ · 1915 VE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

101.70 yr (37,145 d)

Aphelion

2.9444 AU

Perihelion

2.7799 AU

Semi major axis

2.8622 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.84 yr (1,769 d)

Mean anomaly

232.57 °

Mean motion

0° 12 12.6 / day

Inclination

13.559°

Longitude of ascending node

105.85°

Argument of perihelion

292.38°

Mean diameter

51.95 ± 5.6 km 55.747 ± 0.321 km 63.80 ± 0.67 km

Synodic rotation period

11.892 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox