299 Thora

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

Perihelion

2.28 AU (341.48 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.43 AU (364.09 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.80 yr (1,386.8 d)

Mean anomaly

40.9107 °

Mean motion

0° 15 34.52 / day

Inclination

1.60383°

Longitude of ascending node

241.531°

Argument of perihelion

150.672°

Dimensions

17.06 ± 1.5 km

Synodic rotation period

274 h (11.4 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1673 ± 0.033

Discovered by

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

6 October 1890

Named after

Thor

Alternative designations

A890 TA, 1935 PC, 1939 PK

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

83.21 yr (30393 d)

Aphelion

2.58 AU (386.69 Gm )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

15.757

Orbital period

1386.908522448052

Image

Орбита астероида 299.png

via Wikidata · CC0