5145 Pholus

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

Spacewatch ( D. Rabinowitz uncredited)

Discovery site

Kitt Peak National Obs.

Discovery date

9 January 1992

Pronunciation

/ ˈ f oʊ l ə s /

Named after

Φόλος Pholos , ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

1992 AD

Minor planet category

centaur distant

Symbol

or (astrological)

Observation arc

40.74 yr (14,881 d)

Earliest precovery date

22 July 1977

Aphelion

31.943 AU

Perihelion

8.7531 AU

Semi major axis

20.348 AU

Orbital period sidereal

91.79 yr (33,526 d)

Mean anomaly

117.26 °

Mean motion

0° 0 38.52 / day

Inclination

24.617°

Longitude of ascending node

119.44°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Pholus

Followed by

5146 Moiwa

Follows

5144 Achates

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

distant minor planet

Diameter

190.0

Orbital period

33366.41857836716

Image

Pholus SDSS 2003-04-28 annotated.png

via Wikidata · CC0