809 Lundia

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

Max Wolf

Discovery date

11 August 1915

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l ʌ n d i ə /

Named after

Lund Observatory

Alternative designations

1915 XP; 1936 VC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

100.48 yr (36700 d)

Aphelion

2.72316 AU (407.379 Gm )

Perihelion

1.84193 AU (275.549 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.28254 AU (341.463 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.45 yr (1259.6 d )

Mean anomaly

76.7867 °

Mean motion

0° 17 8.912 / day

Inclination

7.14911°

Longitude of ascending node

154.580°

Argument of perihelion

196.162°

Dimensions

10.26 ± 0.07 km

Mass

(9.27 ± 3.09) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.45

Orbital period

1260.172095564811

Image

809Lun-LB1-mag17.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0