1263 Varsavia

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

S. Arend

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

23 March 1933

Pronunciation

/ v ɑːr ˈ s eɪ v i ə /

Named after

Warsaw (Polish capital)

Alternative designations

1933 FF · 1948 PB 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

84.28 yr (30,784 days)

Aphelion

3.1673 AU

Perihelion

2.1617 AU

Semi major axis

2.6645 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.35 yr (1,589 days)

Mean anomaly

213.73 °

Mean motion

0° 13 35.76 / day

Inclination

29.273°

Longitude of ascending node

158.48°

Argument of perihelion

287.46°

Dimensions

34.15 ± 0.16 km , 37.56 ± 10.71 km , 40.21 ± 15.51 km , 41 ± 8 km , 44.2 km , 49.29 ± 1.1 km ( IRAS :11) , 51.44 ± 0.74 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Warsaw

Followed by

1264 Letaba

Follows

1262 Sniadeckia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

49.29

Orbital period

1591.106467692183

Image

1263Varsavia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0