379 Huenna

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 site

Nice Observatory

Discovery date

8 January 1894

Pronunciation

/ h juː ˈ ɛ n ə /

Named after

Ven , Sweden

Alternative designations

A894 AA · A895 DB · A911 BA · 1948 XM

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Themis )

Observation arc

131.81 yr (48145 d)

Aphelion

3.7044 AU (554.17 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5793 AU (385.86 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1419 AU (470.02 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.5692 yr (2034.2 d )

Mean anomaly

6.5320°

Mean motion

0° 10 38.82 / day

Inclination

1.6710°

Longitude of ascending node

171.847°

Argument of perihelion

180.977°

Jupiter moid

1.7266 AU (258.30 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Ven

Followed by

380 Fiducia

Follows

378 Holmia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

84.787

Mass

383

Orbital period

2034.160674682639

Image

379 Huenna Keck II 4x60s median annotated.png

via Wikidata · CC0