958 Asplinda

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

28 September 1921

Named after

Bror A. Asplind , (Swedish astronomer)

Alternative designations

A921 SD · 1921 KC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda

Observation arc

97.88 yr (35,751 d)

Aphelion

4.7204 AU

Perihelion

3.2494 AU

Semi major axis

3.9849 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.95 yr (2,905 d)

Mean anomaly

152.91 °

Mean motion

0° 7 26.04 / day

Inclination

5.6288°

Longitude of ascending node

343.12°

Argument of perihelion

92.950°

Jupiter moid

0.7147 AU

Mean diameter

45.112 ± 0.405 km 47.08 ± 6.2 km 48.57 ± 1.51 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

959 Arne

Follows

957 Camelia

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

45.112

Orbital period

2924.270664590823

Image

958Asplinda (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0