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
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 16.79
- Orbital period
- 2078.534681009502
Show 14 more facts
- time of discovery or invention
- 1985-09-19
- provisional designation
- 1996 NT
Article · Русский
(24649) Балаклава (лат. Balaklava) — типичный астероид главного пояса, который был открыт 19 сентября 1985 года советскими астрономами Людмилой и Николаем Черных в Крымской астрофизической обсерватории и в 2003 году назван в честь города Балаклавы. 24649 Balaklava Discovered 1985 Sept. 19 by N. S. Chernykh and L. I. Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. Balaklava is one of the oldest towns in the Crimea, with a long and interesting history. Located at a picturesque spot on the Crimean coast, it was a favorite site for many famous Russian writers and painters who liked to live and work there and who depicted it in their works. Balaklava is now part of the town of Sebastopol. REF: 20030910/MPCPages.arc; MPC 49676 — Discovery Circumstances
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