Q136161

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

27 October 1927

Pronunciation

/ j uː ˈ b iː ə /

Named after

Euboea (Greek island)

Alternative designations

1927 UB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

90.10 yr (32,908 days)

Aphelion

3.0172 AU

Perihelion

2.2036 AU

Semi major axis

2.6104 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.22 yr (1,540 days)

Mean anomaly

190.40 °

Mean motion

0° 14 1.32 / day

Inclination

7.8583°

Longitude of ascending node

57.381°

Argument of perihelion

230.16°

Dimensions

18.37 ± 4.84 km , 25.10 ± 8.95 km , 29.443 ± 0.279 km , 31.46 km (derived) , 31.881 ± 0.199 km , 31.90 ± 0.38 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

29.443

Orbital period

1544.40608912075

Image

001119-asteroid shape model (1119) Euboea.png

via Wikidata · CC0