1380 Volodia

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

L. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

16 March 1936

Named after

Vladimir Vesselovsky, (newborn on discovery)

Alternative designations

1936 FM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

80.65 yr (29,456 days)

Aphelion

3.4753 AU

Perihelion

2.8314 AU

Semi major axis

3.1533 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.60 yr (2,045 days)

Mean anomaly

124.10 °

Mean motion

0° 10 33.6 / day

Inclination

10.408°

Longitude of ascending node

359.07°

Argument of perihelion

247.31°

Mean diameter

21.188 ± 0.289 km , 21.76 ± 1.03 km , 23.266 ± 0.190 km

Synodic rotation period

8 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

1381 Danubia

Follows

1379 Lomonosowa

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

21.188

Orbital period

2036.912989662823

Image

001380-asteroid shape model (1380) Volodia.png

via Wikidata · CC0