265 Anna

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

25 February 1887

Pronunciation

/ ˈ æ n ə /

Named after

Anny Weiss

Alternative designations

A887 DA, 1933 QN, 1933 RC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

115.71 yr (42263 d)

Aphelion

3.06672 AU (458.775 Gm )

Perihelion

1.77398 AU (265.384 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.42035 AU (362.079 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.77 yr (1375.4 d )

Mean anomaly

84.9293 °

Mean motion

0° 15 42.3 / day

Inclination

25.6443°

Longitude of ascending node

335.566°

Argument of perihelion

251.567°

Dimensions

23.66 ± 3.0 km

Synodic rotation period

11.681 h (0.4867 d )

via Wikipedia infobox