219 Thusnelda

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

30 September 1880

Pronunciation

/ ð ʌ s ˈ n ɛ l d ə /

Named after

Thusnelda

Alternative designations

A880 SA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

117.58 yr (42947 d)

Aphelion

2.8796 AU (430.78 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8302 AU (273.79 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.3549 AU (352.29 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.61 yr (1319.9 d )

Average orbital speed

19.41 km/s

Mean anomaly

238.118 °

Mean motion

0° 16 21.864 / day

Inclination

10.861°

Longitude of ascending node

200.821°

Argument of perihelion

142.692°

Dimensions

40.56 ± 2.7 km , 38.279 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Thusnelda

Followed by

220 Stephania

Follows

218 Bianca

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

37.674

Orbital period

1320.224202597493

via Wikidata · CC0