276 Adelheid

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

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

17 April 1888

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈaːdəlhaɪt ]

Named after

unknown ( Adelheid )

Alternative designations

A888 HA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda

Observation arc

118.38 yr (43,239 days)

Aphelion

3.3296 AU

Perihelion

2.9065 AU

Semi major axis

3.1181 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.51 yr (2,011 days)

Mean anomaly

276.54 °

Mean motion

0° 10 44.4 / day

Inclination

21.614°

Longitude of ascending node

211.16°

Argument of perihelion

265.21°

Dimensions

98.04 ± 5.48 km , 102.674 ± 0.731 km , 104 ± 11 km , 114.723 ± 3.276 km , 121.56 km (derived) , 121.60 ± 7.7 km , 121.71 ± 43.30 km , 125 ± 15 km , 135.30 ± 2.09 km , 156.53 ± 47.83 km

via Wikipedia infobox