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 Observatory
- Discovery date
- 24 August 1903
- Pronunciation
- / s ɛ n ˈ t ɛ z ɪ m ə /
- Alternative designations
- A903 QD · A914 WB · A916 BC · 1950 RM 1
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 112.65 yr (41144 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.2648 AU (488.41 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.7679 AU (414.07 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 3.0163 AU (451.23 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 5.24 yr (1913.5 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 146.99°
- Mean motion
- 0° 11 17.304 / day
- Inclination
- 9.7329°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 184.45°
- Argument of perihelion
- 226.24°
- Mean radius
- 25.075 ± 0.9 km ( IRAS )
- Equatorial escape velocity
- ~25 m/s (56 mph)
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
513 Centesima is a 50 km Main-belt asteroid orbiting the Sun. It is one of the core members of the Eos family of asteroids. Relatively little is known about this tiny asteroid. It is not known to possess any natural satellites, so its mass is unknown. However, its brief rotation period of just over 5 hours implies that the body must be exceptionally dense, for its gravity is able to counteract the centrifugal force. It was discovered 24 August 1903 by late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century astronomer Max Wolf.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q155027” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.