242 Kriemhild

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

22 September 1884

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈkʁiːmhɪlt ]

Named after

Kriemhild

Alternative designations

A884 SA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

131.23 yr (47931 d)

Aphelion

3.2036 AU (479.25 Gm )

Perihelion

2.52045 AU (377.054 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.86202 AU (428.152 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.84 yr (1768.5 d )

Average orbital speed

17.6 km/s

Mean anomaly

351.010 °

Mean motion

0° 12 12.823 / day

Inclination

11.351°

Longitude of ascending node

206.940°

Argument of perihelion

279.764°

Dimensions

38.90 ± 2.1 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Gudrun

Followed by

243 Ida

Follows

241 Germania

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

40.802

Orbital period

1768.343521095636

Image

242Kriemhild (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0