278 Paulina

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

16 May 1888

Pronunciation

/ p ɔː ˈ l iː n ə , - ˈ l aɪ n ə /

Alternative designations

A888 KA, 1959 XF

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

125.42 yr (45811 d)

Aphelion

3.11948 AU (466.668 Gm )

Perihelion

2.39091 AU (357.675 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.75519 AU (412.171 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.57 yr (1670.4 d )

Mean anomaly

44.8832 °

Mean motion

0° 12 55.85 / day

Inclination

7.81777°

Longitude of ascending node

62.0081°

Argument of perihelion

139.469°

Dimensions

35.01 ± 1.6 km

Synodic rotation period

6.497 h (0.2707 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2505 ± 0.024

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

279 Thule

Follows

277 Elvira

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

32.773

Orbital period

1669.502822269818

Image

278Paulina (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0