386 Siegena

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

Max Wolf

Discovery date

1 March 1894

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s iː ɡ ə n ə / SEE -gə-nə

Named after

Siegen

Alternative designations

1894 AY

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Siegenian / s iː ˈ ɡ ɛ n i ə n / see- GHEN -ee-ən

Observation arc

122.08 yr (44590 d)

Aphelion

3.38983 AU (507.111 Gm )

Perihelion

2.40159 AU (359.273 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.89571 AU (433.192 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.93 yr (1799.8 d )

Mean anomaly

66.7510 °

Mean motion

0° 12 0.068 / day

Inclination

20.2568°

Longitude of ascending node

166.886°

Argument of perihelion

219.478°

Dimensions

165.01 ± 2.7 km , 170.35 ± 8.40 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

165.01

Orbital period

1801.375646313787

Image

386Siegena (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0