1270 Datura

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. van Biesbroeck

Discovery site

Yerkes Obs.

Discovery date

17 December 1930

Pronunciation

/ d ə ˈ t ʊər ə , - tj ʊər ə /

Named after

Datura stramonium , (flowering plant)

Alternative designations

1930 YE · 1953 XF 1 , A913 VB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Datura

Observation arc

87.43 yr (31,934 d)

Aphelion

2.7003 AU

Perihelion

1.7681 AU

Semi major axis

2.2342 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,220 d)

Mean anomaly

122.36 °

Mean motion

0° 17 42.36 / day

Inclination

5.9859°

Longitude of ascending node

97.802°

Argument of perihelion

258.98°

Mean diameter

7.83 ± 0.37 km , 8.203 ± 0.152 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Datura stramonium

Followed by

1271 Isergina

Follows

1269 Rollandia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

8.203

Orbital period

1219.814828517981

Image

1270Datura (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0