1564 Srbija

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

M. B. Protitch

Discovery site

Belgrade Obs.

Discovery date

15 October 1936

Pronunciation

sř̩bija

Named after

Serbia (country)

Alternative designations

1936 TB · 1933 FR 1 , 1975 TF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

84.10 yr (30,718 days)

Aphelion

3.8016 AU

Perihelion

2.5547 AU

Semi major axis

3.1782 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.67 yr (2,070 days)

Mean anomaly

141.69 °

Mean motion

0° 10 26.4 / day

Inclination

11.011°

Longitude of ascending node

177.60°

Argument of perihelion

230.17°

Dimensions

29.48 ± 8.22 km , 30.23 ± 8.42 km , 37.12 km (calculated) , 39.32 ± 1.43 km , 41.681 ± 1.170 km , 43.232 ± 0.423 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Serbia

Followed by

1565 Lemaître

Follows

1563 Noël

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

41.681

Orbital period

2060.925027163653

via Wikidata · CC0