1719 Jens

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

17 February 1950

Named after

Jens (discoverer's grandson)

Alternative designations

1950 DP · 1939 PP, 1939 TD · 1941 BB, 1948 RQ · 1948 RS 1 , 1948 TS 1 · 1961 TZ 1 , A922 SC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

68.65 yr (25,074 days)

Aphelion

3.2474 AU

Perihelion

2.0649 AU

Semi major axis

2.6562 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.33 yr (1,581 days)

Mean anomaly

321.62 °

Mean motion

0° 13 39.72 / day

Inclination

14.281°

Longitude of ascending node

323.44°

Argument of perihelion

58.096°

Dimensions

18.76 km (derived) , 18.93 ± 0.9 km , 19.77 ± 0.76 km , 19.914 ± 0.070 km , 21.610 ± 0.086

Synodic rotation period

5.867 ± 0.005 h , 5.87 ± 0.01 h , 5.870 16 ± 0.000 05 h , 5.873 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

19.914

Orbital period

1582.521624230529

Image

Tadpole Nebula with Asteroid.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0