Q137334

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

25 January 1933

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h ɛ d ə r ə /

Named after

Hedera (a.k.a. "Ivy")

Alternative designations

1933 BE · 1929 CD 1 , 1931 TJ 2 · 1975 NW 1 , A907 GD · A915 CA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

102.80 yr (37,548 days)

Aphelion

3.1452 AU

Perihelion

2.2884 AU

Semi major axis

2.7168 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.48 yr (1,636 days)

Mean anomaly

55.862 °

Mean motion

0° 13 12.36 / day

Inclination

6.0489°

Longitude of ascending node

140.65°

Argument of perihelion

217.52°

Mean diameter

13.239 ± 0.150 km , 44.22 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

13.239

Orbital period

1636.388715896935

Image

001251-asteroid shape model (1251) Hedera.png

via Wikidata · CC0