174 Phaedra

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

174 Phaedra (A877 RA)

Orbit class

Main-belt Asteroid

Diameter

64.849 km

Albedo

0.169

Rotation period

5.744 h

Absolute magnitude

8.390 H

Earth MOID

1.460 AU

via NASA/JPL Small-Body Database

Key facts

Discovered by

J. C. Watson

Discovery date

2 September 1877

Pronunciation

/ ˈ f iː d r ə /

Alternative designations

A877 RA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

138.61 yr (50629 d)

Aphelion

3.2658 AU (488.56 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4572 AU (367.59 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.8615 AU (428.07 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.84 yr (1768.0 d )

Mean anomaly

330.70 °

Mean motion

0° 12 13.032 / day

Inclination

12.124°

Longitude of ascending node

327.69°

Argument of perihelion

289.08°

Earth moid

1.47439 AU (220.566 Gm)

Jupiter moid

1.99981 AU (299.167 Gm)

Mean radius

34.62 ± 2.2 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

64.849

Orbital period

1764.982581904922

Image

174Phaedra (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0