284 Amalia

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

29 May 1889

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ m ɑː l i ə /

Alternative designations

A889 KA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

122.66 yr (44,800 d)

Aphelion

2.88122 AU (431.024 Gm )

Perihelion

1.83631 AU (274.708 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.35876 AU (352.865 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.62 yr (1,323.2 d)

Average orbital speed

19.39 km/s

Mean anomaly

0.0848612 °

Mean motion

0° 16 19.445 / day

Inclination

8.05647°

Longitude of ascending node

233.716°

Time of perihelion

2023-Oct-29

Argument of perihelion

58.0568°

Dimensions

52.95 ± 2.6 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

285 Regina

Follows

283 Emma

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

52.95

Orbital period

1324.107374328646

via Wikidata · CC0