682 Hagar

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

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

17 June 1909

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h eɪ ɡ ɑːr /

Named after

Hagar (Biblical woman)

Alternative designations

A909 MA · 1943 GK, 1953 VU 3 · 1975 VO 5 , 1909 HA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia

Observation arc

110.96 yr (40,529 d)

Aphelion

3.1105 AU

Perihelion

2.1966 AU

Semi major axis

2.6536 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1,579 d)

Mean anomaly

225.55 °

Mean motion

0° 13 40.8 / day

Inclination

11.507°

Longitude of ascending node

190.78°

Argument of perihelion

105.08°

Mean diameter

19 ± 4 km

Synodic rotation period

4.8503 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox