896 Sphinx

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 August 1918

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s f ɪ ŋ k s /

Named after

Sphinx ( Greek / Egyptian mythology)

Alternative designations

A918 PE · 1918 DV

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Adjectives

Sphinxian / ˈ s f ɪ ŋ k s i ə n /

Observation arc

101.50 yr (37,074 d)

Aphelion

2.6588 AU

Perihelion

1.9128 AU

Semi major axis

2.2858 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.46 yr (1,262 d)

Mean anomaly

211.73 °

Mean motion

0° 17 6.72 / day

Inclination

8.1903°

Longitude of ascending node

254.18°

Argument of perihelion

1.9628°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.974

Orbital period

1261.474658601627

via Wikidata · CC0