1333 Cevenola

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

O. Bancilhon

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

20 February 1934

Pronunciation

Occitan: [ seveˈnɔlɔ ]

Named after

Cévennes , (mountains, France)

Alternative designations

1934 DA · 1951 EX

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eunomia

Observation arc

82.31 yr (30,064 days)

Aphelion

2.9864 AU

Perihelion

2.2775 AU

Semi major axis

2.6319 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.27 yr (1,560 days)

Mean anomaly

203.92 °

Mean motion

0° 13 50.88 / day

Inclination

14.641°

Longitude of ascending node

115.10°

Argument of perihelion

336.10°

Dimensions

11.2 ± 1.4 km , 11.31 ± 0.99 km , 14.54 km (calculated) , 15.24 ± 0.74 km , 15.262 ± 0.209 km , 17.146 ± 0.237 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Cévennes

Followed by

1334 Lundmarka

Follows

1332 Marconia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

15.262

Orbital period

1561.92833906537

Image

1333Cevenola (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0