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
- H. E. Wood
- Discovery site
- Johannesburg
- Discovery date
- 18 May 1912
- Pronunciation
- / m æ n ˈ k juː n i ə /
- Alternative designations
- 1912 PE
- Observation arc
- 101.39 yr (37034 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.6704 AU (549.08 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7081 AU (405.13 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.1893 AU (477.11 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.70 yr (2080.3 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 260.973 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 10 22.98 / day
- Inclination
- 5.6102°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 106.200°
- Argument of perihelion
- 314.999°
- Earth moid
- 1.72323 AU (257.792 Gm)
- Jupiter moid
- 1.66575 AU (249.193 Gm)
- Mean radius
- 42.74 ± 3.35 km , 43.54 ± 0.655 km
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
758 Mancunia is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. It was discovered in 1912 from Johannesburg by H. E. Wood, a Mancunian. This object is orbiting at a distance of 3.19 AU with a period of 5.70 years. With an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.15, its orbital path ranges from 2.71 to 3.19 AU. The orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 5.61° to the plane of the ecliptic.
Observation of this asteroid in 1996 suggested a rotation period of 6.902 hours. However, radar observations from Arecibo indicated this may be in error. Independent photometry measurements made during December 2006 were combined to determine an estimated period nearly double that of the original, or 12.7253±0.0006 h with a brightness variation amplitude of 0.26±0.02 in magnitude. A high radar albedo indicates this object is most likely metallic. Dips in the radar echo suggests there are large concavities on both sides. It is classified as an X-type asteroid in the Tholen taxonomy and spans a girth of 85±7 km.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “758 Mancunia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.