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
- Orbital period
- 1387.971240019405
Show 14 more facts
- provisional designation
- 1981 VJ
- time of discovery or invention
- 1977-08-19
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.2292168142332643
Article · Русский
(3084) Кондратюк (лат. Kondratyuk) — типичный астероид главного пояса, который был открыт 19 августа 1977 года советским астрономом Николаем Черных в Крымской астрофизической обсерватории и назван в честь одного из основоположников космонавтики Юрия Кондратюка. 3084 Kondratyuk Discovered 1977-08-19 by Chernykh, N. at Nauchnyj. Named in memory of Yurij Vasil'evich Kondratyuk (1897—1942), one of the Soviet pioneers in rocket technology and cosmonautics, known also for his work in electrical engineering. REF: DISCOVERY.DB; MPC 12970 — Discovery Circumstances
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA