157 Dejanira

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

A. Borrelly

Discovery date

1 December 1875

Pronunciation

/ d ɛ dʒ ə ˈ n aɪər ə /

Alternative designations

A875 XA; 1904 VB;, 1978 TS 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

111.13 yr (40590 d)

Aphelion

3.0852 AU (461.54 Gm )

Perihelion

2.07801 AU (310.866 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.58161 AU (386.203 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.15 yr (1515.1 d )

Average orbital speed

18.36 km/s

Mean anomaly

312.135 °

Mean motion

0° 14 15.396 / day

Inclination

12.160°

Longitude of ascending node

62.070°

Argument of perihelion

46.282°

Earth moid

1.11241 AU (166.414 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.16656 AU (324.113 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox