183 Istria

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Austrian Naval Obs.

Discovery date

8 February 1878

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɪ s t r i ə /

Named after

Istrian Peninsula , (in the Adriatic Sea )

Alternative designations

A878 CD; 1948 CG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

112.08 yr (40,937 d)

Aphelion

3.7699 AU

Perihelion

1.8117 AU

Semi major axis

2.7908 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.66 yr (1,703 d)

Mean anomaly

61.603 °

Mean motion

0° 12 41.04 / day

Inclination

26.391°

Longitude of ascending node

141.95°

Argument of perihelion

264.12°

Mean diameter

30.779 ± 0.278 km , 32.927 ± 0.168 km , 34.55 ± 0.84 km , 35.43 ± 2.8 km

via Wikipedia infobox