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
- Robert Luther
- Discovery site
- Düsseldorf-Bilk Obs.
- Discovery date
- 20 February 1890
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ ɡ l ɔː k iː /
- Named after
- Creusa , (a.k.a. Glauce or Glauke)
- Alternative designations
- A890 DA, 1955 MO, 1959 GB, 1961 WF
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 124.34 yr (45416 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.32685 AU (497.690 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.19625 AU (328.554 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.76155 AU (413.122 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.59 yr (1676.2 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 176.219 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 53.172 / day
- Inclination
- 4.33517°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 120.135°
- Argument of perihelion
- 84.8286°
- Dimensions
- 32.21 ± 2.2 km ( IRAS )
via Wikipedia infobox
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
288 Glauke is a stony, tumbling asteroid and slow rotator from the intermediate asteroid belt, approximately 32 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 20 February 1890, by Robert Luther at Düsseldorf-Bilk Observatory in Germany. This was the last of his asteroid discoveries. It is named after Creusa (known as Glauce or Glauke), a daughter of Creon, a king of Corinth in Greek mythology.
This body is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.76 AU with a moderate eccentricity of 0.20 and an orbital period of 4.59 years. Its orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 4.3° relative to the plane of the ecliptic. It is a common, stony S-type asteroid in both the Tholen and SMASS classification. Based on infrared observations, it has a diameter of 29 km.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q150264” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.