1956 Artek

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

Artek (Арте́к) , ( Young Pioneer camp )

Alternative designations

1969 TX 1 · 1975 TA 6

Minor planet category

main-belt · Themis

Observation arc

63.16 yr (23,069 days)

Aphelion

3.5304 AU

Perihelion

2.8760 AU

Semi major axis

3.2032 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.73 yr (2,094 days)

Mean anomaly

11.877 °

Mean motion

0° 10 18.84 / day

Inclination

1.4928°

Longitude of ascending node

153.36°

Argument of perihelion

346.60°

Dimensions

17.97 ± 0.91 km , 18.71 km (calculated) , 19.92 ± 3.55 km

Synodic rotation period

9.4 ± 0.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Artek

Followed by

1957 Angara

Follows

1955 McMath

Parent body

Sun

Diameter

19.921

Orbital period

2090.913154562845

via Wikidata · CC0