417 Suevia

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

6 May 1896

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s w iː v i ə /

Alternative designations

1896 CT

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

119.74 yr (43736 d)

Aphelion

3.17751 AU (475.349 Gm )

Perihelion

2.42031 AU (362.073 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.79891 AU (418.711 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.68 yr (1710.3 d )

Mean anomaly

263.971 °

Mean motion

0° 12 37.746 / day

Inclination

6.65003°

Longitude of ascending node

199.530°

Argument of perihelion

349.340°

Dimensions

40.69 ± 1.9 km

Synodic rotation period

7.034 h (0.2931 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1960 ± 0.020

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

418 Alemannia

Follows

416 Vaticana

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

54.874

Mass

70500000000000000

Orbital period

1711.503119774134

Image

417Suevia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0