111 Ate

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

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters

Discovery date

14 August 1870

Pronunciation

/ ˈ eɪ t iː /

Named after

Ate

Alternative designations

A870 PA; 1911 KE;, 1935 AA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

145.66 yr (53202 d)

Aphelion

2.8614 AU (428.06 Gm )

Perihelion

2.32553 AU (347.894 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.59349 AU (387.981 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.18 yr (1525.5 d )

Average orbital speed

18.44 km/s

Mean anomaly

190.607 °

Mean motion

0° 14 9.532 / day

Inclination

4.9318°

Longitude of ascending node

305.757°

Argument of perihelion

166.424°

Earth moid

1.34088 AU (200.593 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

126.344

Orbital period

1524.828020696234

via Wikidata · CC0