605 Juvisia

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

27 August 1906

Pronunciation

/ dʒ uː ˈ v ɪ z i ə / , French: [ ʒyvizia ]

Alternative designations

1906 UU

Observation arc

109.53 yr (40005 d)

Aphelion

3.4164 AU (511.09 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5809 AU (386.10 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.9986 AU (448.58 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.19 yr (1896.6 d )

Mean anomaly

93.317 °

Mean motion

0° 11 23.316 / day

Inclination

19.663°

Longitude of ascending node

342.852°

Argument of perihelion

14.570°

Mean radius

34.93 ± 2.25 km

Synodic rotation period

15.93 h (0.664 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0397 ± 0.006

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

606 Brangäne

Follows

604 Tekmessa

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

69.86

Orbital period

1898.954538870133

via Wikidata · CC0