416 Vaticana

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

4 May 1896

Pronunciation

/ v æ t ɪ ˈ k eɪ n ə /

Named after

Vatican Hill

Alternative designations

1896 CS

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

117.37 yr (42868 d)

Aphelion

3.40808 AU (509.842 Gm )

Perihelion

2.18756 AU (327.254 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.79782 AU (418.548 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.66 yr (1703.1 d )

Mean anomaly

267.98 °

Mean motion

0° 12 40.968 / day

Inclination

12.859°

Longitude of ascending node

58.117°

Argument of perihelion

198.162°

Dimensions

85.47 ± 1.7 km , 88.81 ± 1.27 km

Mass

(1.125 ± 0.551/0.213) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

85.47

Orbital period

1703.877127473773

Image

416Vaticana (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0