254 Augusta

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

254 Augusta (A886 FA)

Orbit class

Main-belt Asteroid

Diameter

12.467 km

Albedo

0.170

Rotation period

5.895 h

Absolute magnitude

11.840 H

Earth MOID

0.915 AU

via NASA/JPL Small-Body Database

Key facts

Discovered by

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

31 March 1886

Pronunciation

/ ɒ ˈ ɡ ʌ s t ə /

Named after

Auguste von Littrow

Alternative designations

A886 FA

Minor planet category

Augusta · main-belt

Observation arc

130.04 yr (47498 d)

Aphelion

2.4613 AU (368.21 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9281 AU (288.44 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.1947 AU (328.32 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.25 yr (1187.5 d )

Average orbital speed

20.1 km/s

Mean anomaly

340.92 °

Mean motion

0° 18 11.34 / day

Inclination

4.5131°

Longitude of ascending node

28.473°

Argument of perihelion

233.14°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

12.467

Orbital period

1187.463805901303

via Wikidata · CC0