1997 Leverrier

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

14 September 1963

Named after

Urbain Le Verrier , (mathematician)

Alternative designations

1963 RC · 1940 SF, 1950 TS 3 · 1953 QB, 1973 SX 4 · 1973 UF

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

66.72 yr (24,370 days)

Aphelion

2.6660 AU

Perihelion

1.7520 AU

Semi major axis

2.2090 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.28 yr (1,199 days)

Mean anomaly

153.46 °

Mean motion

0° 18 0.72 / day

Inclination

6.0689°

Longitude of ascending node

353.22°

Argument of perihelion

0.6461°

Mean diameter

6.81 ± 0.7 km ( IRAS :2) , 6.83 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

8.015 32 ± 0.000 01 h

via Wikipedia infobox