1167 Dubiago

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

E. F. Skvortsov

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

3 August 1930

Named after

Alexander Dubyago , (also spelled: Dubiago )

Alternative designations

1930 PB · 1931 VJ 1 , 1938 WW · 1950 QX, A924 RF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

86.71 yr (31,671 days)

Aphelion

3.6517 AU

Perihelion

3.1772 AU

Semi major axis

3.4145 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.31 yr (2,305 days)

Mean anomaly

314.09 °

Mean motion

0° 9 22.32 / day

Inclination

5.7477°

Longitude of ascending node

223.39°

Argument of perihelion

71.344°

Dimensions

63.12 ± 5.6 km ( IRAS :17) , 75.79 ± 0.90 km

Synodic rotation period

14.3 h , 34.8374 ± 0.0990 h

via Wikipedia infobox