194 Prokne

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

C. H. F. Peters , 1879

Discovery date

21 March 1879

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p r ɒ k n iː /

Named after

Procne

Alternative designations

A879 FA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Proknean / p r ɒ k ˈ n iː ə n /

Observation arc

136.76 yr (49950 d)

Aphelion

3.2386 AU (484.49 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9930 AU (298.15 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6158 AU (391.32 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.23 yr (1545.3 d )

Mean anomaly

42.282 °

Mean motion

0° 13 58.692 / day

Inclination

18.509°

Longitude of ascending node

159.32°

Argument of perihelion

163.24°

Earth moid

0.986917 AU (147.6407 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox