75 Eurydike

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

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters

Discovery date

September 22, 1862

Pronunciation

/ j ʊ ˈ r ɪ d ɪ k iː /

Named after

Eurydice

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Eurydikean / ˌ j ʊər ɪ d ɪ ˈ k iː ə n /

Aphelion

521.874 million km (3.489 AU)

Perihelion

278.028 million km (1.858 AU)

Semi major axis

399.951 million km (2.674 AU )

Orbital period sidereal

1596.687 d (4.37 a )

Average orbital speed

17.79 km/s

Mean anomaly

26.318°

Inclination

5.002°

Longitude of ascending node

359.481°

Argument of perihelion

339.566°

Dimensions

62.377 ± 1.603 km

Mass

(4.46 ± 2.06/1.06) × 10 kg

Mean density

3.511 ± 1.618/0.837 g/cm

via Wikipedia infobox