2577 Litva

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

N. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

12 March 1975

Pronunciation

Russian: [ lʲɪtˈva ]

Named after

Литва́ (Lithuania)

Alternative designations

1975 EE 3 · 1934 VY, 1954 JD · 1976 SA 2

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser · Hungaria

Observation arc

82.59 yr (30,166 days)

Aphelion

2.1670 AU

Perihelion

1.6420 AU

Semi major axis

1.9045 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.63 yr (960 days)

Mean anomaly

116.54 °

Mean motion

0° 22 30 / day

Inclination

22.908°

Longitude of ascending node

182.60°

Argument of perihelion

284.04°

Dimensions

5.51 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Lithuania

Followed by

2578 Saint-Exupéry

Follows

2576 Yesenin

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Orbital period

960.0175562431203

via Wikidata · CC0