810 Atossa

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

8 September 1915

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ t ɒ s ə /

Named after

Atossa (550–475 BC), (Persian queen)

Alternative designations

A915 RS · 1931 PF, 1934 NB · 1947 PA, 1915 XQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background · Flora

Observation arc

104.41 yr (38,136 d)

Aphelion

2.5717 AU

Perihelion

1.7853 AU

Semi major axis

2.1785 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.22 yr (1,174 d)

Mean anomaly

198.29 °

Mean motion

0° 18 23.4 / day

Inclination

2.6122°

Longitude of ascending node

152.69°

Argument of perihelion

195.84°

Mean diameter

8.104 ± 0.119 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

8.104

Orbital period

1175.301199130715

Image

810Atossa (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0