878 Mildred

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

S. B. Nicholson , H. Shapley

Discovery site

Mount Wilson Obs.

Discovery date

6 September 1916

Named after

Mildred Shapley Matthews

Alternative designations

1916 f, 1985 VG 6 , 1991 GZ 8

Minor planet category

main-belt Nysa

Observation arc

99.57 yr (36368 days)

Aphelion

2.8953 AU (433.13 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8286 AU (273.55 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.3619 AU (353.34 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.63 yr (1325.9 d )

Mean anomaly

198.89 °

Mean motion

0° 16 17.472 / day

Inclination

2.0648°

Longitude of ascending node

172.83°

Argument of perihelion

190.14°

Dimensions

~4 km

Synodic rotation period

2.660 h (0.1108 d )

via Wikipedia infobox