1190 Pelagia

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

20 September 1930

Named after

Pelageya Shajn , (Soviet–Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1930 SL · 1928 DP, 1938 YA · 1953 VB, 1953 XP · A909 BC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Nysa

Observation arc

108.44 yr (39,609 days)

Aphelion

2.7530 AU

Perihelion

2.1096 AU

Semi major axis

2.4313 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.79 yr (1,385 days)

Mean anomaly

284.95 °

Mean motion

0° 15 36 / day

Inclination

3.1697°

Longitude of ascending node

26.477°

Argument of perihelion

41.199°

Dimensions

15.05 ± 3.86 km , 17.30 ± 0.27 km , 17.39 km (derived) , 17.923 ± 0.185 km

Synodic rotation period

2.3661 ± 0.0003 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Pelageya Shajn

Followed by

1191 Alfaterna

Follows

1189 Terentia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

17.923

Orbital period

1384.787723935418

via Wikidata · CC0