814 Tauris

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

2 January 1916

Pronunciation

/ ˈ t ɔːr ɪ s /

Named after

Crimea , (peninsula on the Black Sea in Eastern Europe)

Alternative designations

A916 AE · 1927 BA, A907 JE · 1916 YT

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

104.01 yr (37,990 d)

Aphelion

4.1233 AU

Perihelion

2.1884 AU

Semi major axis

3.1558 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.61 yr (2,048 d)

Mean anomaly

247.26 °

Mean motion

0° 10 32.88 / day

Inclination

21.822°

Longitude of ascending node

88.786°

Argument of perihelion

296.53°

Dimensions

109.0 km × 109.0 km

via Wikipedia infobox