3908 Nyx

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

Hans-Emil Schuster

Discovery date

6 August 1980

Pronunciation

/ ˈ n ɪ k s / "Nyx" . Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.

Named after

Nyx

Alternative designations

1980 PA; 1988 XB 1

Minor planet category

Amor ; Mars-crosser

Adjectives

Nyctian

Observation arc

13021 days (35.65 yr)

Aphelion

2.81198 AU (420.666 Gm )

Perihelion

1.04239 AU (155.939 Gm)

Semi major axis

1.92719 AU (288.304 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

2.68 yr (977.20 d )

Mean anomaly

99.7699 °

Mean motion

0° 22 6.236 / day

Inclination

2.17667°

Longitude of ascending node

261.688°

Argument of perihelion

125.978°

Earth moid

0.0563399 AU (8.42833 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox