873 Mechthild

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

21 May 1917

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

A917 KJ · 1917 CA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

102.24 yr (37,343 d)

Aphelion

3.0199 AU

Perihelion

2.2346 AU

Semi major axis

2.6273 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.26 yr (1,555 d)

Mean anomaly

48.264 °

Mean motion

0° 13 53.04 / day

Inclination

5.2763°

Longitude of ascending node

150.00°

Argument of perihelion

109.99°

Mean diameter

29.04 ± 1.9 km 33.56 ± 0.59 km 34.471 ± 0.103 km

Synodic rotation period

11.006 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox