802 Epyaxa

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

20 March 1915

Pronunciation

/ ɛ p i ˈ æ k s ə /

Named after

Epyaxa, (Queen, 400 BC)

Alternative designations

1915 WR · 1930 YK, 1931 AX · 1970 AM 1 , 1972 XW · 1977 FG 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

101.08 yr (36920 d)

Aphelion

2.3696 AU (354.49 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0225 AU (302.56 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.1960 AU (328.52 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.25 yr (1188.7 d )

Mean anomaly

100.80 °

Mean motion

0° 18 10.296 / day

Inclination

5.2028°

Longitude of ascending node

7.8338°

Argument of perihelion

115.75°

Dimensions

7.423 ± 0.193 km , 7.82 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox