994 Otthild

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

18 March 1923

Named after

Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote

Alternative designations

A923 FB · 1923 NL, 1960 KC · 1967 CM, 1967 EK 1 · 1923 NL

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

96.15 yr (35,119 d)

Aphelion

2.8235 AU

Perihelion

2.2349 AU

Semi major axis

2.5292 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.02 yr (1,469 d)

Mean anomaly

156.20 °

Mean motion

0° 14 42 / day

Inclination

15.411°

Longitude of ascending node

2.3500°

Argument of perihelion

342.50°

Mean diameter

20.786 ± 1.371 km 24.34 ± 0.61 km 24.42 ± 1.6 km

Synodic rotation period

5.9473 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.786

Orbital period

1469.393520208625

Image

994Otthild (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0