156 Xanthippe

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Austrian Naval Obs.

Discovery date

22 November 1875

Pronunciation

/ z æ n ˈ θ ɪ p iː /

Named after

Xanthippe , (wife of Socrates )

Alternative designations

A875 WA; 1901 SA;, 1902 VA; 1936 FG 1 ;, 1942 RP; 1949 BN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

116.46 yr (42,537 d)

Aphelion

3.3475 AU

Perihelion

2.1069 AU

Semi major axis

2.7272 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.50 yr (1,645 d)

Mean anomaly

34.237 °

Mean motion

0° 13 7.68 / day

Inclination

9.7818°

Longitude of ascending node

241.83°

Argument of perihelion

338.29°

Mean diameter

110.409 km , 110.718 ± 2.187 km , 115.49 ± 1.74 km , 116.34 ± 4.14 km , 120.99 ± 2.5 km , 121.68 ± 41.10 km , 122.02 ± 31.66 km , 143.346 ± 0.903 km , 143.35 ± 0.90 km

via Wikipedia infobox