1143 Odysseus

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

28 January 1930

Pronunciation

/ oʊ ˈ d ɪ s iː ə s /

Named after

Odysseus Laertiades , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1930 BH

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Greek · background

Adjectives

Odysseian, Odyssian

Observation arc

20.27 yr (7,404 d)

Aphelion

5.7183 AU

Perihelion

4.7805 AU

Semi major axis

5.2494 AU

Orbital period sidereal

12.03 yr (4,393 d)

Mean anomaly

183.79 °

Mean motion

0° 4 54.84 / day

Inclination

3.1374°

Longitude of ascending node

221.28°

Argument of perihelion

236.63°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Part of

Jupiter trojan

Named after

Odysseus

Followed by

1144 Oda

Follows

1142 Aetolia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

Jupiter trojan

Diameter

114.624

Orbital period

4366.256163503234

via Wikidata · CC0