475 Ocllo

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

D. Stewart

Discovery date

14 August 1901

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɒ k l oʊ /

Named after

Mama Uqllu , legendary first queen of the Kingdom of Cuzco

Alternative designations

1901 HN; 1959 JS;, 1979 DD

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

97.47 yr (35601 d)

Aphelion

3.5821 AU (535.87 Gm )

Perihelion

1.60661 AU (240.345 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.59436 AU (388.111 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.18 yr (1526.3 d )

Mean anomaly

174.037 °

Mean motion

0° 14 9.096 / day

Inclination

18.926°

Longitude of ascending node

34.496°

Argument of perihelion

305.68°

Earth moid

0.670978 AU (100.3769 Gm)

Mars moid

0.3173 AU (47.47 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Mama Ocllo

Followed by

476 Hedwig

Follows

474 Prudentia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

Mars-crossing asteroid

Diameter

17.83

Mass

31

Orbital period

1525.462154072521

via Wikidata · CC0