3063 Makhaon

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. G. Karachkina

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

4 August 1983

Pronunciation

/ m ə ˈ k eɪ . ɒ n /

Named after

Machaon , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1983 PV · 1931 DT, 1964 YL · 1971 OE, 1971 QK 1 · 1975 VT 6

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Greek · Makhaon

Adjectives

Makhaonian

Observation arc

87.67 yr (32,023 d)

Aphelion

5.5153 AU

Perihelion

4.9067 AU

Semi major axis

5.2110 AU

Orbital period sidereal

11.90 yr (4,345 d)

Mean anomaly

201.39 °

Mean motion

0° 4 58.44 / day

Inclination

12.162°

Longitude of ascending node

287.87°

Argument of perihelion

205.34°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Machaon

Followed by

3064 Zimmer

Follows

3062 Wren

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

111.655

Orbital period

4362.744876184235

via Wikidata · CC0