1796 Riga

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

N. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

16 May 1966

Named after

Riga (capital city)

Alternative designations

1966 KB · 1935 GE, 1941 FC 1 · 1947 GA, 1950 TF 2 · 1953 GW, 1960 JA · A907 TG, A907 UD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

66.06 yr (24,129 days)

Aphelion

3.5474 AU

Perihelion

3.1668 AU

Semi major axis

3.3571 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.15 yr (2,247 days)

Mean anomaly

142.11 °

Mean motion

0° 9 36.72 / day

Inclination

22.585°

Longitude of ascending node

186.73°

Time of perihelion

9 August 2027

Argument of perihelion

25.620°

Dimensions

66.2 ± 6.6 km , 68.089 ± 1.037 km , 68.167 ± 0.298 km , 71 ± 7 km , 73.83 ± 1.8 km , 85.79 ± 1.57 km

via Wikipedia infobox