43 Ariadne

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

N. R. Pogson

Discovery date

15 April 1857

Pronunciation

/ ær i ˈ æ d n iː /

Named after

Ariadne

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Flora family )

Adjectives

Ariadnean, Ariadnian / ær i ˈ æ d n i ə n /

Aphelion

384.954 million km (2.573 AU )

Perihelion

274.339 million km (1.834 AU)

Semi major axis

329.646 million km (2.204 AU)

Orbital period sidereal

1194.766 d (3.27 a )

Mean anomaly

101.582°

Inclination

3.464°

Longitude of ascending node

264.937°

Argument of perihelion

15.948°

Dimensions

95 km × 60 km × 50 km

Mass

(3.27 ± 1.35/0.59) × 10 kg

Mean density

3.042 ± 1.255/0.547 g/cm

Synodic rotation period

0.2401 d

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Ariadne

Followed by

44 Nysa

Follows

42 Isis

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

71.34

Orbital period

1194.707352466384

Image

43Ariadne (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0