1500 Jyväskylä

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

16 October 1938

Pronunciation

Finnish: [ ˈjyʋæsˌkylæ ]

Named after

Jyväskylä (Finnish city)

Alternative designations

1938 UH

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

68.59 yr (25,051 days)

Aphelion

2.6685 AU

Perihelion

1.8186 AU

Semi major axis

2.2435 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.36 yr (1,227 days)

Mean anomaly

172.97 °

Mean motion

0° 17 35.88 / day

Inclination

7.4359°

Longitude of ascending node

19.925°

Argument of perihelion

17.100°

Dimensions

6.63 km (calculated) , 7.39 ± 1.59 km , 8.088 ± 0.103 km , 8.095 ± 0.136 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Jyväskylä

Followed by

1501 Baade

Follows

1499 Pori

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

8.095

Orbital period

1226.542501467736

Image

001500-asteroid shape model (1500) Jyväskylä.png

via Wikidata · CC0