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
Wikidata facts
- Orbital period
- 687.2778411533945
Show 13 more facts
- time of discovery or invention
- 1998-11-13
- provisional designation
- 1998 VF31
- orbital inclination
- 31.29714044228502
Article · Svenska
1998 VF31 eller (101429) 1998 VF31 är en trojansk asteroid som följer Mars omloppsbana i lagrangepunkt L5. Den upptäcktes 13 november 1998 av LINEAR. Olikheter mellan de olika mars-trojanerna ger att de sannolikt inte har sitt ursprung i sin nuvarande omloppsbana utan har kommit dit senare under solsystemets historia.
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA