493 Griseldis

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 site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

7 September 1902

Pronunciation

/ ɡ r ɪ ˈ z ɛ l d ɪ s /

Alternative designations

1902 JS

Observation arc

113.61 yr (41495 d)

Aphelion

3.6625 AU (547.90 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5706 AU (384.56 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1165 AU (466.22 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.50 yr (2009.6 d )

Mean anomaly

193.229 °

Mean motion

0° 10 44.904 / day

Inclination

15.177°

Longitude of ascending node

357.360°

Argument of perihelion

47.140°

Dimensions

46.41 ± 4.1 km

Synodic rotation period

51.940 h (2.1642 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0622 ± 0.013

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Griselda

Followed by

494 Virtus

Follows

492 Gismonda

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

41.55

Orbital period

2007.880276991592

via Wikidata · CC0