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
- Diameter
- 4.145
- Orbital period
- 1813.579979723344
Show 13 more facts
- provisional designation
- 1998 XD96
- time of discovery or invention
- 1998-12-12
Article · Español
(15453) Brasileirinhos es un asteroide del cinturón de asteroides descubierto el 12 de diciembre de 1998 por el astrónomo Orlando Naranjo desde el observatorio astronómico nacional de Llano del Hato, ubicado en la Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela. El término brasileirinhos significa ‘brasileños jóvenes’. El nombre fue escogido por los ganadores del tercer Gran Desafío del Museo Exploratorio de Ciencias de la Universidad Estatal de Campinas, Brasil, como una forma de alentar a los estudiantes a destacarse en sus estudios. Posee una excentricidad de 0,0817901 y un inclinación de 3,13864º.
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA