998 Bodea

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

6 August 1923

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b oʊ d i ə /

Named after

Johann Elert Bode , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

A923 PC · 1967 PA, 1923 NU

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

96.34 yr (35,187 d)

Aphelion

3.7826 AU

Perihelion

2.4547 AU

Semi major axis

3.1187 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.51 yr (2,012 d)

Mean anomaly

89.259 °

Mean motion

0° 10 44.4 / day

Inclination

15.505°

Longitude of ascending node

301.18°

Argument of perihelion

72.139°

Mean diameter

31.21 ± 0.39 km 31.761 ± 0.497 km 38.16 ± 3.1 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

31.761

Orbital period

2007.765439396072

via Wikidata · CC0