944 Hidalgo

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

W. Baade

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

31 October 1920

Pronunciation

/ h ɪ ˈ d æ l ɡ oʊ /

Named after

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla , (Mexican revolutionary)

Alternative designations

1920 HZ · A920 UB

Minor planet category

centaur · main-belt , unusual

Symbol

(astrological)

Observation arc

97.97 yr (35,784 d)

Aphelion

9.5345 AU

Perihelion

1.9474 AU

Semi major axis

5.7410 AU

Orbital period sidereal

13.76 yr (5,024 d)

Mean anomaly

13.078 °

Mean motion

0° 4 18.12 / day

Inclination

42.521°

Longitude of ascending node

21.420°

Argument of perihelion

56.651°

via Wikipedia infobox