2661 Bydžovský

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

Z. Vávrová

Discovery site

Kleť Obs.

Discovery date

23 March 1982

Named after

Bohumil Bydžovský , (Czech academician)

Alternative designations

1982 FC 1 · 1950 EE, 1969 TG 4 · 1971 DO, 1974 SU 2 · 1979 RM 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

66.89 yr (24,432 days)

Aphelion

3.3104 AU

Perihelion

2.7421 AU

Semi major axis

3.0262 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.26 yr (1,923 days)

Mean anomaly

358.62 °

Mean motion

0° 11 13.92 / day

Inclination

9.9324°

Longitude of ascending node

321.14°

Argument of perihelion

115.55°

Dimensions

22 ± 9 km (calculated) , 30 ± 2 km (est. at 0.06 )

via Wikipedia infobox