314 Rosalia

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

1 September 1891

Pronunciation

/ r oʊ ˈ z eɪ l i ə , - ɑː l i ə /

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

124.62 yr (45517 d)

Aphelion

3.71009 AU (555.022 Gm )

Perihelion

2.59640 AU (388.416 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.15325 AU (471.719 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.60 yr (2045.2 d )

Mean anomaly

116.710 °

Mean motion

0° 10 33.679 / day

Inclination

12.5603°

Longitude of ascending node

170.314°

Argument of perihelion

190.369°

Dimensions

59.65 ± 2.2 km

Synodic rotation period

20.43 h (0.851 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0787 ± 0.006

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

315 Constantia

Follows

313 Chaldaea

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

60.689

Orbital period

2050.867779447281

via Wikidata · CC0