323 Brucia

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

22 December 1891

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b r uː s i ə , ˈ b r uː ʃ ə /

Named after

Catherine Wolfe Bruce , (American philanthropist)

Alternative designations

1934 JC · A923 JA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea · ex- Mars-crosser

Observation arc

125.35 yr (45,785 days)

Aphelion

3.0979 AU

Perihelion

1.6662 AU

Semi major axis

2.3820 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.68 yr (1,343 days)

Mean anomaly

106.64 °

Mean motion

0° 16 5.16 / day

Inclination

24.230°

Longitude of ascending node

97.398°

Argument of perihelion

291.26°

Mars moid

0.3464 AU

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Catherine Wolfe Bruce

Followed by

324 Bamberga

Follows

322 Phaeo

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

27.714

Orbital period

1342.723917704683

via Wikidata · CC0