1951 Lick

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

C. A. Wirtanen

Discovery site

Lick Obs.

Discovery date

26 July 1949

Named after

James Lick ( philanthropist )

Alternative designations

1949 OA

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

67.12 yr (24,514 days)

Aphelion

1.4760 AU

Perihelion

1.3049 AU

Semi major axis

1.3904 AU

Orbital period sidereal

1.64 yr (599 days)

Mean anomaly

221.32 °

Mean motion

0° 36 3.96 / day

Inclination

39.091°

Longitude of ascending node

130.75°

Argument of perihelion

140.52°

Earth moid

0.3068 AU · 119.5 LD

Dimensions

5.57 ± 0.5 km ( IRAS :3) , 5.59 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox