658 Asteria

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

August Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

23 January 1908

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ s t ɪər i ə /

Alternative designations

1908 BW

Observation arc

109.62 yr (40038 d)

Aphelion

3.0400 AU (454.78 Gm )

Perihelion

2.6661 AU (398.84 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.8530 AU (426.80 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.82 yr (1760.2 d )

Mean anomaly

239.630 °

Mean motion

0° 12 16.272 / day

Inclination

1.5061°

Longitude of ascending node

351.004°

Argument of perihelion

61.086°

Mean radius

11.475 ± 0.6 km

Synodic rotation period

21.034 h (0.8764 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2040 ± 0.024

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

659 Nestor

Follows

657 Gunlöd

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

21.894

Orbital period

1762.029317522564

via Wikidata · CC0