66 Maja

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

H. P. Tuttle

Discovery site

Harvard College Obs.

Discovery date

9 April 1861

Pronunciation

/ ˈ m eɪ . ə /

Named after

Maia ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

1947 FO · 1974 KR, 1992 OX 10 · A902 UF, A906 QD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Adjectives

Majan

Observation arc

156.54 yr (57,178 days)

Aphelion

3.1021 AU

Perihelion

2.1884 AU

Semi major axis

2.6453 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.30 yr (1,571 days)

Mean anomaly

241.56 °

Mean motion

0° 13 44.76 / day

Inclination

3.0461°

Longitude of ascending node

7.5071°

Argument of perihelion

44.071°

via Wikipedia infobox