406 Erna

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

A. Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Obs.

Discovery date

22 August 1895

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈɛʁnaː ]

Named after

Erna Bidschof , (grand-daughter of J. Palisa )

Alternative designations

1895 CB · 1949 KD 1 , A903 DA · A905 OB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

114.37 yr (41,772 days)

Aphelion

3.4439 AU

Perihelion

2.3861 AU

Semi major axis

2.9150 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.98 yr (1,818 days)

Mean anomaly

168.93 °

Mean motion

0° 11 52.8 / day

Inclination

4.1920°

Longitude of ascending node

315.76°

Argument of perihelion

37.224°

Dimensions

41.52 ± 10.79 km , 46.145 ± 0.732 km , 46.02 ± 0.73 km , 46.266 ± 0.310 km , 47.70 ± 0.51 km , 49.19 ± 1.7 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

46.266

Orbital period

1819.786290123339

Image

406Erna (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0