453 Tea

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

Discovery date

22 February 1900

Pronunciation

French: [ te.a ]

Alternative designations

1900 FA

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Flora family )

Observation arc

116.15 yr (42424 d)

Aphelion

2.4219 AU (362.31 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9452 AU (291.00 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.1836 AU (326.66 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.23 yr (1178.6 d )

Mean anomaly

318.7251 °

Mean motion

0° 18 19.8 / day

Inclination

5.5512°

Longitude of ascending node

11.7240°

Time of perihelion

2023-May-27

Argument of perihelion

220.40893°

Dimensions

20.93 ± 1.1 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

23.985

Orbital period

1178.559017655829

via Wikidata · CC0