172 Baucis

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

A. Borrelly

Discovery date

5 February 1877

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b ɔː s ɪ s /

Named after

Baucis

Alternative designations

A877 CA; 1921 EE

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

133.62 yr (48806 d)

Aphelion

2.6525 AU (396.81 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1073 AU (315.25 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.3799 AU (356.03 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.67 yr (1341.0 d )

Mean anomaly

175.49 °

Mean motion

0° 16 6.42 / day

Inclination

10.028°

Longitude of ascending node

331.98°

Argument of perihelion

359.20°

Earth moid

1.09593 AU (163.949 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.67257 AU (399.811 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox