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
- Viktor Knorre
- Discovery date
- 1 July 1884
- Pronunciation
- / h ɪ ˈ p eɪ ʃ i ə /
- Named after
- Hypatia
- Alternative designations
- A884 NA, 1947 HA
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Adjectives
- Hypatian
- Observation arc
- 124.07 yr (45318 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.1652 AU (473.51 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.6514 AU (396.64 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.9083 AU (435.08 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.96 yr (1811.5 d )
- Average orbital speed
- 17.47 km/s
- Mean anomaly
- 170.00 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 55.392 / day
- Inclination
- 12.413°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 183.89°
- Argument of perihelion
- 210.750°
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Named after
- Hypatia
- Followed by
- 239 Adrastea
- Follows
- 237 Coelestina
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 155.659
- Orbital period
- 1808.514799964204
Show 19 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Viktor Knorre
- site of astronomical discovery
- Berlin Observatory
- provisional designation
- A884 NA
- time of discovery or invention
- 1884-07-01
- asteroid spectral type
- C-type asteroid
- orbital inclination
- 12.40639711693673
- Commons category
- 238 Hypatia
- albedo
- 0.039
- rotation period
- 8.8749
- absolute magnitude
- 8.04
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.0917599124827288
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.905019778115885
- periapsis
- 2.638455417515375
- apoapsis
- 3.171584138716395
- longitude of ascending node
- 183.7565062195771
- argument of periapsis
- 209.2524783519226
- mean anomaly
- 127.850407986794
- time of periapsis
- 2460358.224013818
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
238 Hypatia is a large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by Russian astronomer Viktor Knorre on July 1, 1884, in Berlin. It was the third of his four asteroid discoveries. The name was given in honour of philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. Based upon the spectrum, it is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous material. Like many asteroids of this type, its surface is very dark in colour.
Orbit of Hypatia (blue ring)
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “238 Hypatia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.