884 Priamus

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

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

22 September 1917

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p r aɪ . ə m ə s /

Named after

Priam (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1917 CQ · 1929 XX, 1938 KE

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Trojan · background

Adjectives

Priamean

Observation arc

100.54 yr (36,722 d)

Aphelion

5.8147 AU

Perihelion

4.5487 AU

Semi major axis

5.1817 AU

Orbital period sidereal

11.80 yr (4,308 d)

Mean anomaly

257.84 °

Mean motion

0° 5 0.96 / day

Inclination

8.9150°

Longitude of ascending node

301.56°

Argument of perihelion

335.46°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Priam

Followed by

885 Ulrike

Follows

883 Matterania

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

101.093

Orbital period

4343.78787086239

via Wikidata · CC0