483 Seppina

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

4 March 1902

Pronunciation

/ s ɛ ˈ p aɪ n ə /

Alternative designations

1902 HU

Observation arc

114.11 yr (41680 d)

Aphelion

3.6073 AU (539.64 Gm )

Perihelion

3.2579 AU (487.37 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.4326 AU (513.51 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

6.36 yr (2322.9 d )

Mean anomaly

212.541 °

Mean motion

0° 9 17.928 / day

Inclination

18.772°

Longitude of ascending node

173.998°

Argument of perihelion

157.582°

Mean radius

34.685 ± 1.4 km

Synodic rotation period

12.727 h (0.5303 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1709 ± 0.014

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

484 Pittsburghia

Follows

Q154719

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

66.858

Orbital period

2314.409922848122

via Wikidata · CC0