450 Brigitta

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

M. F. Wolf , A. Schwassmann

Discovery date

10 October 1899

Pronunciation

German: [ brɪˈɡɪtaː ]

Alternative designations

1899 EV

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Eos )

Observation arc

116.51 yr (42557 d)

Aphelion

3.31399 AU (495.766 Gm )

Perihelion

2.72067 AU (407.006 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.01733 AU (451.386 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.24 yr (1914.4 d )

Mean anomaly

125.651 °

Mean motion

0° 11 16.976 / day

Inclination

10.1548°

Longitude of ascending node

14.4643°

Argument of perihelion

356.379°

Dimensions

33.32 ± 1.3 km

Synodic rotation period

10.75 h (0.448 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1229 ± 0.010

via Wikipedia infobox