195 Eurykleia

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 , 1879

Discovery date

19 April 1879

Pronunciation

/ j ʊ r ɪ ˈ k l iː ə /

Alternative designations

A879 HA; 1949 QB 2

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

131.99 yr (48,208 d)

Aphelion

3.00 AU (449.33 Gm )

Perihelion

2.75 AU (411.29 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.88 AU (430.30 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.88 yr (1,781.9 d)

Mean anomaly

113.56°

Mean motion

0° 12 7.308 / day

Inclination

6.9718°

Longitude of ascending node

6.9930°

Argument of perihelion

119.12°

Earth moid

1.77 AU (264.87 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.01 AU (300.95 Gm)

Mean radius

42.855 ± 0.85 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

93.109

Orbital period

1783.2211959311

via Wikidata · CC0