115 Thyra

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

James Craig Watson

Discovery date

6 August 1871

Pronunciation

/ ˈ θ aɪər ə /

Named after

Thyra

Alternative designations

A871 PA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

143.31 yr (52344 d)

Aphelion

2.8376 AU (424.50 Gm )

Perihelion

1.92394 AU (287.817 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.38077 AU (356.158 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.67 yr (1341.8 d )

Average orbital speed

19.13 km/s

Mean anomaly

108.401 °

Mean motion

0° 16 5.88 / day

Inclination

11.595°

Longitude of ascending node

308.901°

Argument of perihelion

96.946°

Earth moid

0.97246 AU (145.478 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

79.83

Mass

530

Orbital period

1341.123446587924

Image

115Thyra (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0