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
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 7.937
- Orbital period
- 1591.858759863803
Show 14 more facts
- provisional designation
- 1987 SZ5
- time of discovery or invention
- 1974-09-19
Article · Русский
(5078) Соловьёв-Седой (лат. Solovjev-Sedoj) — типичный астероид главного пояса, который был открыт 19 сентября 1974 года советским астрономом Людмилой Черных в Крымской астрофизической обсерватории и 20 июня 1997 года назван в честь советского поэта В. П. Соловьёва-Седого. 5078 Solovjev-Sedoj Discovered 1974-09-19 by Chernykh, L. I. at Nauchnyj. Named in memory of Vasilij Pavlovich Solovjev-Sedoj (1907—1979), distinguished composer, author of about 400 songs that are still popular, seven operettas and musical comedies, two ballets and music for several dozen films. REF: DISCOVERY.DB; MPC 30096 — Discovery Circumstances
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA