765 Mattiaca

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

Franz Kaiser

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

26 September 1913

Pronunciation

/ m ə ˈ t aɪ ə k ə /

Alternative designations

1913 SV

Observation arc

102.56 yr (37459 d)

Aphelion

3.2685 AU (488.96 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8258 AU (273.14 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5472 AU (381.06 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.07 yr (1484.8 d )

Mean anomaly

87.9802 °

Mean motion

0° 14 32.82 / day

Inclination

5.5470°

Longitude of ascending node

326.657°

Argument of perihelion

71.022°

Synodic rotation period

3.4640 h (0.14433 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Mattiaci

Followed by

766 Moguntia

Follows

764 Gedania

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

7.991

Orbital period

1482.744840715034

via Wikidata · CC0