986 Amelia

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

J. Comas Solà

Discovery site

Fabra Obs.

Discovery date

19 October 1922

Named after

Amelia Solà, (discoverer's wife)

Alternative designations

A922 UA · 1922 MQ, 1935 BK · 1966 VA, A915 JC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

93.64 yr (34,203 d)

Aphelion

3.7674 AU

Perihelion

2.4961 AU

Semi major axis

3.1317 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.54 yr (2,024 d)

Mean anomaly

210.80 °

Mean motion

0° 10 40.08 / day

Inclination

14.815°

Longitude of ascending node

92.601°

Argument of perihelion

265.52°

Mean diameter

48.677 ± 0.159 km 50.94 ± 1.2 km 52.30 ± 0.78 km

Synodic rotation period

9.52 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox