1845 Helewalda

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

30 October 1972

Named after

Helen Gachnang, (friend of discoverer)

Alternative designations

1972 UC · 1931 VC 1 , 1954 GG · 1971 OR, 1971 QX 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

85.50 yr (31,229 days)

Aphelion

3.1371 AU

Perihelion

2.8001 AU

Semi major axis

2.9686 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.11 yr (1,868 days)

Mean anomaly

210.23 °

Mean motion

0° 11 33.72 / day

Inclination

10.720°

Longitude of ascending node

142.61°

Argument of perihelion

325.05°

Dimensions

19.930 ± 0.377 , 20.426 ± 0.147 km , 32.03 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

7.2786 ± 0.0002 h , 7.3985 ± 0.0098 h , 7.399 ± 0.004 h , 7.4 ± 0.1 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

1846 Bengt

Follows

1844 Susilva

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

19.93

Orbital period

1868.970092276454

via Wikidata · CC0