1137 Raïssa

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

27 October 1929

Named after

Raïssa Maseeva, (Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1929 WB · A908 BB, A910 TB · A924 JA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

113.28 yr (41,374 days)

Aphelion

2.6600 AU

Perihelion

2.1865 AU

Semi major axis

2.4233 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.77 yr (1,378 days)

Mean anomaly

132.76 °

Mean motion

0° 15 40.68 / day

Inclination

4.3162°

Longitude of ascending node

78.455°

Argument of perihelion

277.00°

Mean diameter

19.421 ± 0.192 km , 20.029 ± 0.132 km , 21.21 ± 0.55 km , 23.66 km (derived) , 23.69 ± 1.1 km

Synodic rotation period

142.79 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox