280 Philia

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

29 October 1888

Pronunciation

/ ˈ f ɪ l i ə /

Named after

Philia (nymph)

Alternative designations

A888 UB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

126.17 yr (46,083 d)

Aphelion

3.26133 AU (487.888 Gm )

Perihelion

2.62787 AU (393.124 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.94460 AU (440.506 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.05 yr (1,845.6 d)

Mean anomaly

52.7987 °

Mean motion

0° 11 42.212 / day

Inclination

7.44582°

Longitude of ascending node

9.91179°

Argument of perihelion

90.0510°

Dimensions

45.69 ± 2.0 km

Synodic rotation period

70.26 h (2.928 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

philia

Followed by

281 Lucretia

Follows

279 Thule

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

45.69

Orbital period

1844.101698344334

via Wikidata · CC0