128 Nemesis

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

25 November 1872

Pronunciation

/ ˈ n ɛ m ɪ s ɪ s /

Named after

Nemesis

Alternative designations

A872 WA; 1952 HW 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Nemesis

Adjectives

Nemesian / n ə ˈ m iː ʒ ( i ) ə n /

Observation arc

144.93 yr (52,934 d)

Aphelion

3.10 AU (463.69 Gm )

Perihelion

2.40 AU (359.00 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.75 AU (411.35 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.56 years (1,665 d)

Mean anomaly

345.49 °

Mean motion

0° 12 58.32 / day

Inclination

6.2453°

Longitude of ascending node

76.243°

Argument of perihelion

303.82°

Mean diameter

163 ± 5 km , 162.5 ± 1.3 km , 184.2 ± 5.2 km

via Wikipedia infobox