1856 Růžena

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

L. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

8 October 1969

Named after

Růžena Petrovicova, ( Kleť Observatory )

Alternative designations

1969 TW 1 · 1941 FP, 1971 DL 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

47.47 yr (17,339 days)

Aphelion

2.4146 AU

Perihelion

2.0586 AU

Semi major axis

2.2366 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,222 days)

Mean anomaly

251.86 °

Mean motion

0° 17 40.92 / day

Inclination

4.7421°

Longitude of ascending node

185.88°

Argument of perihelion

56.000°

Dimensions

6.620 ± 0.252 km

Geometric albedo

0.335 ± 0.033

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

1857 Parchomenko

Follows

1855 Korolev

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

6.62

Orbital period

1222.014174810747

via Wikidata · CC0