1916 Boreas

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

S. Arend

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

1 September 1953

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b ɔːr i ə s /

Named after

Boreas ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

1953 RA

Minor planet category

NEO · Amor

Observation arc

63.73 yr (23,279 days)

Aphelion

3.2944 AU

Perihelion

1.2506 AU

Semi major axis

2.2725 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.43 yr (1,251 days)

Mean anomaly

252.13 °

Mean motion

0° 17 15.72 / day

Inclination

12.884°

Longitude of ascending node

340.64°

Argument of perihelion

335.83°

Earth moid

0.2520 AU · 98.2 LD

via Wikipedia infobox