130 Elektra

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

C. H. F. Peters

Discovery site

Litchfield Obs.

Discovery date

17 February 1873

Pronunciation

/ ɪ ˈ l ɛ k t r ə /

Named after

Electra

Alternative designations

A873 DA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Adjectives

Elektrian / ɪ ˈ l ɛ k t r i ə n /

Observation arc

127.53 yr (46,582 d )

Aphelion

3.7808 AU

Perihelion

2.4725 AU

Semi major axis

3.1266 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.53 yr (2,019 d)

Mean anomaly

87.758 °

Mean motion

0° 10 41.79 / day

Inclination

22.782°

Longitude of ascending node

145.009°

Argument of perihelion

237.588°

via Wikipedia infobox