390 Alma

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

Guillaume Bigourdan

Discovery date

24 March 1894

Named after

Alma River

Alternative designations

1894 BC; 1930 QW;, 1950 BV; 1950 CH;, 1953 YB; 1963 DF

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Eunomia family )

Observation arc

122.02 yr (44568 d)

Aphelion

3.00211 AU (449.109 Gm )

Perihelion

2.29906 AU (343.934 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.65059 AU (396.523 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1576.2 d )

Mean anomaly

136.953 °

Mean motion

0° 13 42.229 / day

Inclination

12.1645°

Longitude of ascending node

305.223°

Argument of perihelion

190.194°

Dimensions

23.74 ± 1.4 km , 24 km

Mean density

~2.7 g/cm

Synodic rotation period

3.74 h (0.156 d ) , 0.156 d

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Alma

Followed by

391 Ingeborg

Follows

389 Industria

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

25.688

Orbital period

1576.915594976205

Image

390Alma (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0