776 Berbericia

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

A. Massinger

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

24 January 1914

Pronunciation

/ b ɜːr b ə ˈ r ɪ ʃ i ə /

Alternative designations

1914 TY

Adjectives

Berberician

Observation arc

102.05 yr (37275 d)

Aphelion

3.4131 AU (510.59 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4477 AU (366.17 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.9304 AU (438.38 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.02 yr (1832.3 d )

Mean anomaly

235.69 °

Mean motion

0° 11 47.328 / day

Inclination

18.237°

Longitude of ascending node

79.729°

Argument of perihelion

307.132°

Mean diameter

151.711 ± 0.878 km

Mass

(3.082 ± 1.341/0.996) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q157047

Follows

775 Lumière

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

151.711

Orbital period

1832.052651728119

Image

776Berbericia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0