199 Byblis

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 , 1879

Discovery date

9 July 1879

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b ɪ b l ɪ s /

Alternative designations

A879 NA; 1971 WB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Byblian / ˈ b ɪ b l i ə n /

Observation arc

136.39 yr (49817 d)

Aphelion

3.7367 AU (559.00 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5996 AU (388.89 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1682 AU (473.96 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2059.7 d )

Mean anomaly

86.623 °

Mean motion

0° 10 29.208 / day

Inclination

15.474°

Longitude of ascending node

88.589°

Argument of perihelion

180.18°

Earth moid

1.58338 AU (236.870 Gm)

Jupiter moid

1.372 AU (205.2 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox