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
- 1 January 1932
- Named after
- unknown
- Alternative designations
- 1932 AA · 1930 QD, 1961 PC
- Minor planet category
- main-belt · ( middle ) , background
- Observation arc
- 86.52 yr (31,602 days)
- Aphelion
- 3.0319 AU
- Perihelion
- 2.3881 AU
- Semi major axis
- 2.7100 AU
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.46 yr (1,629 days)
- Mean anomaly
- 207.11 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 13 15.24 / day
- Inclination
- 9.8345°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 285.92°
- Argument of perihelion
- 32.580°
- Dimensions
- 30.70 ± 12.73 km , 33.26 ± 8.39 km , 33.651 ± 8.835 km , 34.134 ± 0.253 km , 34.94 ± 0.50 km , 35.22 km (derived) , 35.29 ± 3.2 km , 36.668 ± 0.575 km , 39.58 ± 11.00 km
- Synodic rotation period
- 9.860 h , 9.866 87 ± 0.000 05 h , 9.870 ± 0.001 h
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- asteroid
- Followed by
- Q137060
- Follows
- Q137048
- Parent body
- Sun
- Minor-planet group
- asteroid belt
- Diameter
- 36.668
- Orbital period
- 1632.802838847445
- Image
- 001214-asteroid shape model (1214) Richilde.png
Show 18 more facts
- discoverer or inventor
- Max Wolf
- site of astronomical discovery
- Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory
- provisional designation
- 1961 PC
- time of discovery or invention
- 1932-01-01
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.1175812437867031
- albedo
- 0.048
- orbital inclination
- 9.846586585458148
- periapsis
- 2.394592459570834
- apoapsis
- 3.032745621606618
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 2.713669040588726
- mean anomaly
- 148.054746672664
- longitude of ascending node
- 285.7849009590702
- argument of periapsis
- 33.88369094591983
- absolute magnitude
- 11.3
- rotation period
- 9.86
- asteroid spectral type
- X-type asteroid
- time of periapsis
- 2460328.988303689
- epoch
- November 21, 2025
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
1214 Richilde, provisional designation 1932 AA, is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 35 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Max Wolf at Heidelberg Observatory in 1932. Any reference of the asteroid's name to a person is unknown.
Discovery
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q137049” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.