1849 Kresák

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

14 January 1942

Named after

Ľubor Kresák , (Slovak astronomer)

Alternative designations

1942 AB · 1948 EO, 1951 WC 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

75.29 yr (27,500 days)

Aphelion

3.1076 AU

Perihelion

3.0009 AU

Semi major axis

3.0542 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.34 yr (1,950 days)

Mean anomaly

353.13 °

Mean motion

0° 11 4.92 / day

Inclination

10.765°

Longitude of ascending node

50.363°

Argument of perihelion

143.25°

Dimensions

21.776 ± 2.427 km , 26.14 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

19.1008 ± 0.0153 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Ľubor Kresák

Followed by

Q144721

Follows

Q144680

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

21.776

Orbital period

1946.787142385889

Image

001849-asteroid shape model (1849) Kresák.png

via Wikidata · CC0