303 Josephina

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

Elia Millosevich

Discovery date

12 February 1891

Alternative designations

A891 CA; 1948 MA, 1974 KC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

124.85 yr (45600 d)

Aphelion

3.31643 AU (496.131 Gm )

Perihelion

2.92967 AU (438.272 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.12305 AU (467.202 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2015.9 d )

Mean anomaly

357.173 °

Mean motion

0° 10 42.892 / day

Inclination

6.87269°

Longitude of ascending node

344.002°

Argument of perihelion

64.1014°

Dimensions

99.29 ± 1.9 km

Synodic rotation period

12.497 h (0.5207 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0594 ± 0.002

Temperature

unknown

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

304 Olga

Follows

302 Clarissa

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

124.923

Orbital period

2017.654796880429

Image

303 Josephina Orbit Diagram.png

via Wikidata · CC0