725 Amanda

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

21 October 1911

Pronunciation

German: [ aːˈmandaː ]

Named after

Amanda Schorr, wife of Richard Schorr (1867–1951) , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

A911 UQ · 2016 FH 6 , 1911 ND

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

104.58 yr (38,198 d)

Aphelion

3.1422 AU

Perihelion

2.0022 AU

Semi major axis

2.5722 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.13 yr (1,507 d)

Mean anomaly

114.51 °

Mean motion

0° 14 20.04 / day

Inclination

3.7902°

Longitude of ascending node

68.679°

Argument of perihelion

323.36°

Mean diameter

20.49 ± 0.28 km 21.51 ± 2.2 km 23.687 ± 0.215 km

via Wikipedia infobox