108 Hecuba

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

R. Luther

Discovery date

2 April 1869

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h ɛ k j ʊ b ə /

Named after

Hecuba

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

135.87 yr (49628 d)

Aphelion

3.4190 AU (511.48 Gm )

Perihelion

3.05922 AU (457.653 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.23912 AU (484.565 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.83 yr (2129.3 d )

Average orbital speed

16.53 km/s

Mean anomaly

166.649 °

Mean motion

0° 10 8.648 / day

Inclination

4.2204°

Longitude of ascending node

350.014°

Argument of perihelion

204.634°

Earth moid

2.05833 AU (307.922 Gm)

Jupiter moid

1.55152 AU (232.104 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox