2023 Asaph

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

2023 Asaph (1952 SA)

Orbit class

Main-belt Asteroid

Diameter

19.678 km

Albedo

0.096

Rotation period

89.200 h

Absolute magnitude

11.830 H

Earth MOID

1.070 AU

via NASA/JPL Small-Body Database

Key facts

Discovered by

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

16 September 1952

Named after

Asaph Hall , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1952 SA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

64.53 yr (23,571 days)

Aphelion

3.6816 AU

Perihelion

2.0703 AU

Semi major axis

2.8760 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.88 yr (1,781 days)

Mean anomaly

98.697 °

Mean motion

0° 12 7.56 / day

Inclination

22.352°

Longitude of ascending node

3.1290°

Argument of perihelion

357.53°

Dimensions

19.678 ± 0.264 km , 20.56 ± 0.43 km , 21.29 ± 0.40 km , 25.44 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

3.87 ± 0.02 h , 4.74 ± 0.01 h , 9.19 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox