409 Aspasia

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 date

9 December 1895

Pronunciation

/ æ ˈ s p eɪ ʒ ( i ) ə /

Named after

Aspasia

Alternative designations

1895 CE

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Aspasian

Observation arc

120.33 yr (43952 d)

Aphelion

2.7640 AU (413.49 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3865 AU (357.02 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5752 AU (385.24 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.13 yr (1509.5 d )

Mean anomaly

260.362 °

Mean motion

0° 14 18.564 / day

Inclination

11.262°

Longitude of ascending node

242.19°

Argument of perihelion

353.72°

Dimensions

161.61 ± 6.8 km , 176.33 ± 4.50 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Aspasia

Followed by

410 Chloris

Follows

408 Fama

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

171.012

Orbital period

1509.389741504024

Image

409Aspasia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0