167 Urda

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

Clinton, New York

Discovery date

28 August 1876

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɜːr d ə /

Named after

Urd

Alternative designations

A876 QA; 1899 KC;, 1905 QA; 1906 WA

Minor planet category

main belt ( Koronis asteroid family )

Observation arc

132.01 yr (48218 d)

Aphelion

2.9583526 AU (442.56325 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7493497 AU (411.29686 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.8538511 AU (426.93005 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.82 yr (1760.9 d )

Mean anomaly

37.607175 °

Mean motion

0° 12 15.969 / day

Inclination

2.212408°

Longitude of ascending node

166.21859°

Argument of perihelion

133.03586°

Earth moid

1.73392 AU (259.391 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

39.935

Orbital period

1760.785748068065

Image

167Urda (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0