192 Nausikaa

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 , 1879

Discovery date

17 February 1879

Pronunciation

/ n ɔː ˈ s ɪ k i . ə /

Named after

Nausicaä

Alternative designations

A879 DA; 1933 HH

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Nausikaan

Observation arc

137.04 yr (50054 d)

Aphelion

2.9934 AU (447.81 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8121 AU (271.09 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.4028 AU (359.45 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.72 yr (1360.4 d )

Mean anomaly

94.342 °

Mean motion

0° 15 52.632 / day

Inclination

6.8137°

Longitude of ascending node

343.25°

Argument of perihelion

30.067°

Earth moid

0.814558 AU (121.8561 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Nausicaa

Followed by

193 Ambrosia

Follows

191 Kolga

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

98.776

Orbital period

1360.913599699709

Image

192Nausikaa (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0