3034 Climenhaga

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

24 September 1917

Pronunciation

/ ˈ k l aɪ m ɪ n h eɪ ɡ ə /

Named after

John Climenhaga, (Canadian astrophysicist)

Alternative designations

A917 SE · 1949 UE 1 , 1952 KZ · 1970 OC, 1974 VN 2 · 1974 XE, 1979 BD 1 · 1981 XD

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

99.24 yr (36,248 days)

Aphelion

2.8134 AU

Perihelion

1.8349 AU

Semi major axis

2.3241 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.54 yr (1,294 days)

Mean anomaly

96.756 °

Mean motion

0° 16 41.52 / day

Inclination

4.9263°

Longitude of ascending node

10.621°

Argument of perihelion

314.01°

Dimensions

7.82 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

3035 Chambers

Follows

3033 Holbaek

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Orbital period

1293.51632871314

via Wikidata · CC0