534 Nassovia

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

(534) Nassovia

Orbit class

Main-belt

Semi-major axis

2.883 AU

Eccentricity

0.060

Inclination

3.276 °

Absolute magnitude

9.650 H

via Minor Planet Center

Key facts

Discovered by

Raymond Smith Dugan

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

19 April 1904

Pronunciation

/ n ə ˈ s oʊ v i ə /

Alternative designations

1904 OA

Observation arc

111.96 yr (40895 d)

Aphelion

3.0508 AU (456.39 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7227 AU (407.31 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.8867 AU (431.84 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.90 yr (1791.5 d )

Mean anomaly

102.82 °

Mean motion

0° 12 3.42 / day

Inclination

3.2735°

Longitude of ascending node

94.151°

Argument of perihelion

339.550°

Mean radius

16.56 ± 0.7 km

Synodic rotation period

9.382 h (0.3909 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1991 ± 0.018

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Nassau Hall

Followed by

535 Montague

Follows

533 Sara

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

32.333

Orbital period

1788.492820989145

Image

534Nassovia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0