1284 Latvia

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

27 July 1933

Named after

Latvia (Republic of Latvia)

Alternative designations

1933 OP · 1925 WK, 1931 DW · 1933 QP, 1950 RL

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

83.45 yr (30,481 days)

Aphelion

3.0967 AU

Perihelion

2.1952 AU

Semi major axis

2.6459 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.30 yr (1,572 days)

Mean anomaly

78.834 °

Mean motion

0° 13 44.4 / day

Inclination

10.874°

Longitude of ascending node

302.96°

Argument of perihelion

114.40°

Dimensions

33.27 ± 7.09 km , 36.81 ± 1.2 km ( IRAS :18) , 41.128 ± 0.457 km , 41.47 ± 0.52 km , 45.19 ± 0.74 km , 47.255 ± 0.627 km

Synodic rotation period

9.55 ± 0.01 h , 9.552 ± 0.001 h , 9.644 ± 0.002 h , 18 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Latvia

Followed by

1285 Julietta

Follows

1283 Komsomolia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

36.81

Orbital period

1569.933206819781

via Wikidata · CC0