376 Geometria

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Observatory

Discovery date

18 September 1893

Pronunciation

/ ˌ dʒ iː ə ˈ m ɛ t r i ə , dʒ i ə -/

Named after

geometry

Alternative designations

A893 SC · 1950 BQ 1 · 1954 BJ

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

126.70 yr (46278 d)

Aphelion

2.68253 AU (401.301 Gm )

Perihelion

1.89377 AU (283.304 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.28815 AU (342.302 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.46126 yr (1264.23 d )

Mean anomaly

151.513°

Mean motion

0° 17 5.132 / day

Inclination

5.43065°

Longitude of ascending node

301.948°

Argument of perihelion

316.527°

Jupiter moid

2.3929 AU (357.97 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox