1902 Shaposhnikov

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

T. Smirnova

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

18 April 1972

Pronunciation

/ ʃ ə ˈ p ɒ ʃ n ɪ k ɒ v /

Named after

Vladimir Shaposhnikov, (Soviet astronomer)

Alternative designations

1972 HU · 1940 GK, 1941 MC · 1950 TD 4 , 1951 WY 1 · 1951 YD, 1958 TP 1 · 1958 VB, 1959 XA · 1972 JA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda · background

Observation arc

77.07 yr (28,149 days)

Aphelion

4.8450 AU

Perihelion

3.0853 AU

Semi major axis

3.9651 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.90 yr (2,884 days)

Mean anomaly

186.17 °

Mean motion

0° 7 29.28 / day

Inclination

12.495°

Longitude of ascending node

59.315°

Argument of perihelion

268.16°

Mean diameter

83.443 ± 1.723 km , 89.24 ± 33.98 km , 91.60 ± 1.54 km , 96.86 ± 3.2 km , 97.01 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox