(1048) Feodosia

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

29 November 1924

Named after

Feodosiya (Crimean city)

Alternative designations

1924 TP · 1942 XP, 1942 XZ · 1959 SK

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

91.51 yr (33,425 days)

Aphelion

3.2268 AU

Perihelion

2.2377 AU

Semi major axis

2.7323 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.52 yr (1,650 days)

Mean anomaly

352.46 °

Mean motion

0° 13 5.52 / day

Inclination

15.809°

Longitude of ascending node

52.766°

Argument of perihelion

183.31°

Dimensions

54.98 ± 22.14 km , 58.31 ± 12.99 km , 62.218 ± 1.596 km , 70.16 ± 1.8 km ( IRAS :9) , 85.14 ± 1.17 km

Synodic rotation period

10.46 h , 23 ± 1 h , 35.20 ± 0.23 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Feodosiia

Followed by

1049 Gotho

Follows

(1047) Geisha

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

62.218

Orbital period

1647.369027706951

via Wikidata · CC0