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
- A. Borrelly
- Discovery site
- Marseille Obs.
- Discovery date
- 11 May 1883
- Pronunciation
- / ə ˈ s t ɛr ə p iː /
- Named after
- Sterope
- Alternative designations
- A883 JA
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 118.65 yr (43337 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.9271 AU (437.89 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.3927 AU (357.94 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.6599 AU (397.92 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.34 yr (1584.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 138.789 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 37.92 / day
- Inclination
- 7.6832°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 222.017°
- Argument of perihelion
- 125.128°
- Dimensions
- 102.78 ± 7.9 km
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 99.672
- Orbital period
- 1583.522972897137
Show 15 more facts
- time of discovery or invention
- 1883-05-11
- orbital inclination
- 7.6907313628083
- Commons category
- 233 Asterope
- provisional designation
- A883 JA
- albedo
- 0.094
- rotation period
- 19.694
- absolute magnitude
- 8.43
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1016407593045489
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.658789536266182
- periapsis
- 2.388548148969098
- apoapsis
- 2.929030923563265
- longitude of ascending node
- 221.9110451038191
- argument of periapsis
- 125.9324631500447
- mean anomaly
- 190.0985017466437
- time of periapsis
- 2461747.8414600384
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Article
233 Asterope is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered on 11 May 1883, by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly at Marseille Observatory in Marseille, France. The asteroid was named after Asterope (or Sterope), one of the Pleiades.
This asteroid is orbiting the Sun with a semimajor axis of 2.66 AU, a period of 4.34 years, and an eccentricity of 0.10. The orbital plane is inclined by 7.68° to the plane of the ecliptic. It is a rare T-type asteroid and has a relatively dark surface. The spectrum of 233 Asterope bears a resemblance to Troilite, a sulfurous iron mineral found in most iron meteorites.