369 Aëria

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

A. Borrelly

Discovery site

Marseille Obs.

Discovery date

4 July 1893

Pronunciation

/ eɪ ˈ ɪər i ə /

Named after

Air ( classical element )

Alternative designations

1893 AE · 1949 MY, A894 WA

Minor planet category

main-belt · middle , Aeria

Observation arc

123.99 yr (45,288 days)

Aphelion

2.9068 AU

Perihelion

2.3952 AU

Semi major axis

2.6510 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1,577 days)

Mean anomaly

205.45 °

Mean motion

0° 13 41.88 / day

Inclination

12.706°

Longitude of ascending node

94.209°

Argument of perihelion

268.82°

Mean diameter

60.00 ± 1.2 km , 65.39 ± 0.72 km , 70.798 ± 2.087 km , 73.767 ± 1.072 km

via Wikipedia infobox