387 Aquitania

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

F. Courty

Discovery site

Bordeaux Obs.

Discovery date

5 March 1894

Pronunciation

/ æ k w ɪ ˈ t eɪ n i ə /

Named after

Aquitaine , (Roman Gallia Aquitania )

Alternative designations

1894 AZ · 1945 NA, 1948 BG · 1953 EO 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Postrema

Observation arc

123.56 yr (45,132 days)

Aphelion

3.3853 AU

Perihelion

2.0964 AU

Semi major axis

2.7409 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.54 yr (1,657 days)

Mean anomaly

330.99 °

Mean motion

0° 13 1.92 / day

Inclination

18.113°

Longitude of ascending node

128.24°

Argument of perihelion

157.14°

Dimensions

97.33 ± 3.42 km , 100.51 ± 2.9 km , 105.06 ± 1.34 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Gallia Aquitania

Followed by

388 Charybdis

Follows

386 Siegena

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

100.51

Mass

1.8

Orbital period

1653.600851676674

via Wikidata · CC0