344 Desiderata

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

15 November 1892

Pronunciation

/ d ɪ ˌ s ɪ d ə ˈ r eɪ t ə /

Named after

Désirée Clary

Alternative designations

1892 M

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

123.40 yr (45073 d)

Aphelion

3.41189 AU (510.411 Gm )

Perihelion

1.78384 AU (266.859 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.59786 AU (388.634 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.19 yr (1529.4 d )

Mean anomaly

301.200 °

Mean motion

0° 14 7.39 / day

Inclination

18.3442°

Longitude of ascending node

48.0488°

Argument of perihelion

237.424°

Dimensions

124.181 ± 2.516 km , 129.20 ± 3.37 km

Mass

(1.39 ± 0.48) × 10 kg , (1.693 ± 0.463/0.498) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox