1004 Belopolskya

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

S. Belyavskyj

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

5 September 1923

Named after

Aristarkh Belopolsky , (astrophysicist)

Alternative designations

1923 OS · 1936 WB, 1937 YB · 1938 AA, 1963 DC · 1974 WK, 2004 SU 12 · A917 TA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) · Cybele

Observation arc

92.89 yr (33,928 days)

Aphelion

3.6994 AU

Perihelion

3.1054 AU

Semi major axis

3.4024 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.28 yr (2,292 days)

Mean anomaly

322.58 °

Mean motion

0° 9 25.2 / day

Inclination

2.9787°

Longitude of ascending node

153.54°

Argument of perihelion

215.17°

Dimensions

71.60 ± 2.1 km ( IRAS :9) , 79.83 ± 1.33 km

Synodic rotation period

9.44 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Aristarkh Belopolsky

Followed by

1005 Arago

Follows

1003 Lilofee

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

71.6

Orbital period

2295.289502206679

via Wikidata · CC0