877 Walküre

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

13 September 1915

Named after

Valkyrie (mythology) and Die Walküre (opera)

Alternative designations

A915 RV · 1909 GC, A909 GC · 1915 Σ7, 1915 S7

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

98.94 yr (36,137 d)

Aphelion

2.8854 AU

Perihelion

2.0877 AU

Semi major axis

2.4866 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.92 yr (1,432 d)

Mean anomaly

222.78 °

Mean motion

0° 15 5.04 / day

Inclination

4.2555°

Longitude of ascending node

116.38°

Argument of perihelion

275.82°

Mean diameter

34.79 ± 8.41 km 38.41 ± 1.4 km 39.93 ± 0.51 km

Synodic rotation period

17.424 ± 0.004 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

38.41

Orbital period

1432.438174432455

via Wikidata · CC0