842 Kerstin

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

1 October 1916

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈkɛʁstiːn ]

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

A916 TB · 1916 AM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

103.12 yr (37,664 d)

Aphelion

3.6139 AU

Perihelion

2.8597 AU

Semi major axis

3.2368 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.82 yr (2,127 d)

Mean anomaly

350.44 °

Mean motion

0° 10 9.48 / day

Inclination

14.496°

Longitude of ascending node

5.4008°

Argument of perihelion

352.49°

Mean diameter

39.16 ± 2.8 km 41.21 ± 1.40 km 43.576 ± 0.190 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

843 Nicolaia

Follows

841 Arabella

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

43.576

Orbital period

2130.192531765588

via Wikidata · CC0