1140 Crimea

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

30 December 1929

Named after

Crimea , (Black Sea peninsula)

Alternative designations

1929 YC · A922 HA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

82.04 yr (29,966 days)

Aphelion

3.0846 AU

Perihelion

2.4579 AU

Semi major axis

2.7712 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.61 yr (1,685 days)

Mean anomaly

64.258 °

Mean motion

0° 12 48.96 / day

Inclination

14.136°

Longitude of ascending node

72.139°

Argument of perihelion

310.16°

Dimensions

27.75 ± 1.1 km ( IRAS :13) , 28.87 ± 0.36 km , 29.179 ± 0.155 km , 29.554 ± 0.205 km

Synodic rotation period

9.77 ± 0.01 h , 9.784 ± 0.001 h , 9.7869 ± 0.0005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Crimea

Followed by

Q136418

Follows

Q136379

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

29.179

Orbital period

1686.137440923054

Image

1140Crimea (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0