373 Melusina

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

15 September 1893

Pronunciation

/ ˌ m ɛ l ( j ) ʊ ˈ s iː n ə / MEL -(y)uu- SEE -nə

Named after

? Melusina

Alternative designations

1893 AJ · A893 RA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

111.58 yr (40753 d)

Aphelion

3.5593 AU (532.46 Gm )

Perihelion

2.67382 AU (399.998 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.11658 AU (466.234 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.50 yr (2009.6 d )

Mean anomaly

127.53 °

Mean motion

0° 10 44.904 / day

Inclination

15.432°

Longitude of ascending node

3.8355°

Argument of perihelion

347.763°

Dimensions

103 +6, −3 km

Synodic rotation period

12.97 h (0.540 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Melusine

Followed by

374 Burgundia

Follows

372 Palma

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

98.695

Orbital period

2013.315010281077

via Wikidata · CC0