2867 Šteins

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

N. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

4 November 1969

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s t eɪ n s /

Named after

Kārlis Šteins

Alternative designations

1969 VC 1954 QL 1979 FJ 4 1980 VV 1 1980 WB

Minor planet category

main-belt ( inner ) background

Observation arc

66.47 yr (24,279 d)

Aphelion

2.7081 AU

Perihelion

2.0185 AU

Semi major axis

2.3633 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.63 yr (1,327 d)

Mean anomaly

182.24 °

Mean motion

0° 16 16.68 / day

Inclination

9.9354°

Longitude of ascending node

55.366°

Argument of perihelion

251.08°

Dimensions

6.83 km × 5.70 km × 4.42 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

5.16

Orbital period

1326.983499956084

Image

2867 Šteins by Rosetta (reprocessed).png

via Wikidata · CC0