399 Persephone

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

23 February 1895

Pronunciation

/ p ər ˈ s ɛ f ə n iː /

Named after

Persephone

Alternative designations

1895 BP

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

120.99 yr (44191 d)

Aphelion

3.2761 AU (490.10 Gm )

Perihelion

2.82735 AU (422.966 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.0517 AU (456.53 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.33 yr (1947.2 d )

Mean anomaly

255.116 °

Mean motion

0° 11 5.568 / day

Inclination

13.113°

Longitude of ascending node

346.391°

Argument of perihelion

194.023°

Dimensions

49.13 ± 4.0 km

Synodic rotation period

9.136 h (0.3807 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Persephone

Followed by

400 Ducrosa

Follows

Q152422

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

39.566

Orbital period

1946.298512542957

Image

399Persephone (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0