2173 Maresjev

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. V. Zhuravleva

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

22 August 1974

Named after

Alexey Maresyev , (Soviet war veteran)

Alternative designations

1974 QG 1 · 1933 FN, 1938 DD 2 · 1963 SW, 1968 OM · 1974 RZ 1 , 1974 TG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

84.52 yr (30,871 d)

Aphelion

3.4978 AU

Perihelion

2.7790 AU

Semi major axis

3.1384 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.56 yr (2,031 d)

Mean anomaly

313.24 °

Mean motion

0° 10 38.28 / day

Inclination

14.424°

Longitude of ascending node

174.66°

Argument of perihelion

166.31°

Mean diameter

20.61 ± 6.86 km , 27.90 ± 0.61 km , 28.324 ± 0.226 km , 28.96 km (calculated) , 29.265 ± 0.242 km

Synodic rotation period

11.6 ± 0.1 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

28.324

Orbital period

2032.91059791792

Image

002173-asteroid shape model (2173) Maresjev.png

via Wikidata · CC0