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
- 5.193
- Orbital period
- 1432.106128511472
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- 1987 UU8
- time of discovery or invention
- 1975-10-03
Article · Русский
(5612) Невский (лат. Nevskij) — типичный астероид главного пояса, который был открыт 3 октября 1975 года советским астрономом Людмилой Черных в Крымской астрофизической обсерватории и назван в честь князя Александра Невского. 5612 Nevskij Discovered 1975-10-03 by Chernykh, L. I. at Nauchnyj. Named for Novgorod prince Aleksandr Yaroslavich (1220—1263), astute politician and skilled military leader of Russian troops who defended northwestern Russia from annexation by Swedish and German feudal lords. He was named Nevskij for his victory over Swedish troops at the Neva River in 1240, and he is also famous for his defeat of Teutonic knights at Chudskoe Lake in 1242. REF: DISCOVERY.DB; MPC 30097 — Discovery Circumstances
Abstract from DBpedia / Wikipedia · CC BY-SA