2959 Scholl

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

E. Bowell

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

4 September 1983

Named after

Hans Scholl , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1983 RE 2 · 1968 UB 3 , 1977 UK · 1978 EY 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda

Observation arc

48.53 yr (17,727 days)

Aphelion

5.0276 AU

Perihelion

2.8597 AU

Semi major axis

3.9436 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.83 yr (2,861 days)

Mean anomaly

79.809 °

Mean motion

0° 7 33.24 / day

Inclination

5.2330°

Longitude of ascending node

121.24°

Argument of perihelion

285.08°

Jupiter moid

0.5192 AU

Dimensions

32.783 ± 0.319 km , 34.11 ± 1.9 km , 34.15 km (derived) , 35.70 ± 0.77 km , 45.60 ± 15.37 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

32.783

Orbital period

2875.828351487546

via Wikidata · CC0