(233) Asterope

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

A. Borrelly

Discovery site

Marseille Obs.

Discovery date

11 May 1883

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ s t ɛr ə p iː /

Named after

Sterope

Alternative designations

A883 JA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

118.65 yr (43337 d)

Aphelion

2.9271 AU (437.89 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3927 AU (357.94 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6599 AU (397.92 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.34 yr (1584.5 d )

Mean anomaly

138.789 °

Mean motion

0° 13 37.92 / day

Inclination

7.6832°

Longitude of ascending node

222.017°

Argument of perihelion

125.128°

Dimensions

102.78 ± 7.9 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Sterope

Followed by

234 Barbara

Follows

232 Russia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

99.672

Orbital period

1583.522972897137

via Wikidata · CC0