1205 Ebella

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 October 1931

Named after

Martin Ebell, (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1931 TB 1 · 1970 JT

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

85.48 yr (31,221 days)

Aphelion

3.2287 AU

Perihelion

1.8411 AU

Semi major axis

2.5349 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.04 yr (1,474 days)

Mean anomaly

103.87 °

Mean motion

0° 14 39.12 / day

Inclination

8.8616°

Longitude of ascending node

23.083°

Argument of perihelion

349.24°

Dimensions

5.474 ± 0.283 km , 6.0 km (est. at 0.20 )

Geometric albedo

0.214 ± 0.026

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

1206 Numerowia

Follows

1204 Renzia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

5.474

Orbital period

1474.924611498134

via Wikidata · CC0