2169 Taiwan

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

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery site

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery date

9 November 1964

Named after

Taiwan

Alternative designations

1964 VP 1 · 1938 DV 1 , 1975 BH 1 · 1977 RF 8 , 1979 FG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Astrid

Observation arc

79.28 yr (28,957 days)

Aphelion

2.9244 AU

Perihelion

2.6564 AU

Semi major axis

2.7904 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.66 yr (1,703 days)

Mean anomaly

116.98 °

Mean motion

0° 12 41.4 / day

Inclination

1.5286°

Longitude of ascending node

71.855°

Argument of perihelion

358.45°

Dimensions

14.39 km (calculated) , 16.52 ± 4.57 km , 17.96 ± 4.92 km , 18.22 ± 0.51 km , 18.39 ± 0.30 km , 19.263 ± 0.139 km

Synodic rotation period

7.252 ± 0.0014 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Taiwan

Followed by

2170 Byelorussia

Follows

2168 Swope

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

19.263

Orbital period

1702.508033382262

Image

Celestia 2169 Taiwan orbit.png

via Wikidata · CC0