2055 Dvořák

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. Kohoutek

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

19 February 1974

Pronunciation

/ d ( ə ) ˈ v ɔːr ʒ ɑː k , - ʒ æ k / , d(ə)- VOR -zha(h)k

Named after

Antonín Dvořák , (Czech composer)

Alternative designations

1974 DB

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

42.37 yr (15,475 days)

Aphelion

3.0297 AU

Perihelion

1.5909 AU

Semi major axis

2.3103 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.51 yr (1,283 days)

Mean anomaly

101.49 °

Mean motion

0° 16 50.52 / day

Inclination

21.488°

Longitude of ascending node

340.44°

Argument of perihelion

244.12°

Dimensions

8.18 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox