45 Eugenia

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

H. Goldschmidt

Discovery date

27 June 1857

Pronunciation

/ j uː ˈ dʒ iː n i ə /

Named after

Empress Eugénie

Alternative designations

1941 BN

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Eugenian

Aphelion

440.305 million km (2.943 AU)

Perihelion

373.488 million km (2.497 AU)

Semi major axis

406.897 million km (2.720 AU )

Orbital period sidereal

1,638.462 d (4.49 a )

Mean anomaly

45.254°

Inclination

6.610°

Longitude of ascending node

147.939°

Argument of perihelion

85.137°

Known satellites

Petit-Prince , S/2004 (45) 1

Dimensions

232 × 193 × 161 km , 305 × 220 × 145 km

Mean radius

94 ± 1 km , 107.3 ± 2.1 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

202.327

Mass

5.69

Orbital period

1639.950122778466

Image

45 Eugenia VLT (2021), deconvolved.pdf

via Wikidata · CC0