سیارک ۳۰۶

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

(306) Unitas

Orbit class

Main-belt

Semi-major axis

2.358 AU

Eccentricity

0.152

Inclination

7.278 °

Absolute magnitude

8.740 H

via Minor Planet Center

Key facts

Discovered by

Elia Millosevich

Discovery date

1 March 1891

Pronunciation

/ ˈ j uː n ɪ t æ s /

Alternative designations

A891 EA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

124.78 yr (45575 d)

Aphelion

2.71480 AU (406.128 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0009 AU (299.33 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.35785 AU (352.729 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.62 yr (1322.4 d )

Mean anomaly

88.9729 °

Mean motion

0° 16 20.014 / day

Inclination

7.2779°

Longitude of ascending node

141.912°

Argument of perihelion

168.008°

Dimensions

47.20 ± 0.13 km , 52.88 ± 3.48 km

Mass

(5.33 ± 5.77) × 10 kg

Synodic rotation period

8.736 h (0.3640 d ) , 8.73875 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Angelo Secchi

Followed by

307 Nike

Follows

305 Gordonia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

47.2

Orbital period

1322.108608816069

Image

306Unitas (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0