715 Transvaalia

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

H. E. Wood

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

22 April 1911

Pronunciation

/ t r æ n z ˈ v ɑː l i ə /

Alternative designations

1911 LX

Observation arc

104.91 yr (38318 d)

Aphelion

2.9989 AU (448.63 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5422 AU (380.31 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7706 AU (414.48 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.61 yr (1684.4 d )

Mean anomaly

192.37 °

Mean motion

0° 12 49.392 / day

Inclination

13.808°

Longitude of ascending node

46.109°

Argument of perihelion

299.865°

Mean radius

14.275 ± 1.15 km

Synodic rotation period

11.83 h (0.493 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2606 ± 0.048

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q156712

Follows

714 Ulula

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

25.458

Orbital period

1680.491462521004

via Wikidata · CC0