490 Veritas

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

3 September 1902

Pronunciation

/ ˈ v ɛr ɪ t æ s /

Alternative designations

1902 JP

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Veritas

Adjectives

Veritasian

Observation arc

113.37 yr (41409 d)

Aphelion

3.4715 AU (519.33 Gm )

Perihelion

2.8719 AU (429.63 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1717 AU (474.48 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.65 yr (2063.2 d )

Mean anomaly

31.094 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.164 / day

Inclination

9.2809°

Longitude of ascending node

178.335°

Argument of perihelion

194.390°

Earth moid

1.87147 AU (279.968 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox