File:302Clarissa_(Lightcurve_Inversion).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
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
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 14 November 1890
- Alternative designations
- A890 VA; 1909 YA, 1929 CK 1 ; 1946 UN, 1948 ED; 1953 NN
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 124.04 yr (45,305 d)
- Aphelion
- 2.67 AU (400.04 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.14 AU (319.61 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.41 AU (359.82 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 3.73 yr (1,362.5 d)
- Mean anomaly
- 213.798 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 15 51.174 / day
- Inclination
- 3.41369°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 7.85637°
- Argument of perihelion
- 54.5926°
- Dimensions
- 38.53 ± 3.1 km
- Mean density
- 1.5 g cm
- Synodic rotation period
- 14.381 h (0.5992 d )
- Geometric albedo
- 0.0524 ± 0.010
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
302 Clarissa is a typical main-belt asteroid. The asteroid was discovered by the French astronomer Auguste Charlois on 14 November 1890 in Nice. The origin of the name is unknown. In 1991, 302 Clarissa was being considered as a possible flyby target for the Cassini spacecraft, but was later removed from consideration.
This body is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.73 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.11. The orbital plane is inclined by 3.4° to the plane of the ecliptic. There are no major planetary resonances near the orbit of 302 Clarissa. It has a retrograde spin with a rotation period of 14.4797 hours. Stellar occultation data provides a size estimate of 43±4 km, while IRAS data gives a diameter of 38.5±3.1 km. It is classified as a F-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “302 Clarissa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.