470 Kilia

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

Luigi Carnera

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

21 April 1901

Pronunciation

/ ˈ k ɪ l i ə /

Named after

Kiel

Alternative designations

1901 GJ; A902 RB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

114.99 yr (42001 d)

Aphelion

2.633 AU (393.9 Gm )

Perihelion

2.179 AU (326.0 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.405 AU (359.8 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.73 yr (1362.0 d )

Mean anomaly

328.947 °

Mean motion

0° 15 51.089 / day

Inclination

7.227°

Longitude of ascending node

173.225°

Argument of perihelion

47.396°

Proper semi major axis

2.4047 AU

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Kiel

Followed by

471 Papagena

Follows

469 Argentina

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

27.75

Orbital period

1361.413649182091

via Wikidata · CC0