80 Sappho

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

N. R. Pogson

Discovery site

Madras Obs.

Discovery date

2 May 1864

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s æ f oʊ /

Named after

Sappho (Greek poet)

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Adjectives

Sapphonian / s æ ˈ f oʊ n i ə n / , Sapphoian / s æ ˈ f oʊ . i ə n /

Symbol

(astrological)

Aphelion

2.7544 AU (412.05 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8370 AU (274.81 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2957 AU (343.43 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.48 yr (1270.5 d )

Mean anomaly

287.260°

Mean motion

0° 17 0.06 / day

Inclination

8.676°

Longitude of ascending node

218.699°

Argument of perihelion

139.662°

Earth moid

0.843652 AU (126.2085 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

68.563

Orbital period

1270.972831427556

Image

80Sappho (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0