File:188Menippe_(Lightcurve_Inversion).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
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
- C. H. F. Peters , 1878
- Discovery date
- 18 June 1878
- Pronunciation
- / m ɛ ˈ n ɪ p iː /
- Alternative designations
- A878 MA; 1897 QA;, 1948 WQ
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 100.84 yr (36833 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2542 AU (486.82 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.2691 AU (339.45 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.7617 AU (413.14 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.59 yr (1676.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 346.69 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 53.1 / day
- Inclination
- 11.703°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 240.91°
- Argument of perihelion
- 70.177°
- Earth moid
- 1.286 AU (192.4 Gm)
- Jupiter moid
- 2.07085 AU (309.795 Gm)
- Mean radius
- 19.305 ± 0.5 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 35.752
- Orbital period
- 1676.822097703473
- Image
- 188Menippe (Lightcurve Inversion).png
Show 15 more facts
- provisional designation
- A878 MA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1878-06-18
- orbital inclination
- 11.70223609585591
- albedo
- 0.242
- Commons category
- 188 Menippe
- rotation period
- 11.98
- absolute magnitude
- 9.29
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1786435225745463
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.762224933573152
- periapsis
- 2.268771341296402
- apoapsis
- 3.255678525849902
- longitude of ascending node
- 240.8149421013224
- argument of periapsis
- 69.66293156858077
- mean anomaly
- 357.5275818842175
- time of periapsis
- 2461012.01612592
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Article
188 Menippe is a main belt asteroid. The object has a bright surface and rocky composition. It was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on June 18, 1878, in Clinton, New York. The asteroid was named named after Menippe, one of the daughters of Orion in Greek mythology.
This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.76 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.178 and an orbital period of 4.59 years. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 11.7° to the plane of the ecliptic. Based on infrared measurements, it has a diameter of approximately 35.75 km. The spectrum matches a stony S-type asteroid.