(3548) Eurybates

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

C. J. van Houten , I. van Houten-G. , Tom Gehrels

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

19 September 1973

Pronunciation

/ j ʊ ˈ r ɪ b ə t iː z /

Named after

Eurybates , ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

1973 SO · 1954 CB, 1957 JX · 1978 EE 5 , 1985 TZ

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Greek , Eurybates , binary

Adjectives

Eurybatian

Earliest precovery date

9 February 1954

Aphelion

5.680 AU

Perihelion

4.733 AU

Semi major axis

5.206 AU

Orbital period sidereal

11.88 yr (4,339 d)

Mean anomaly

27.507 °

Mean motion

0° 4 58.682 / day

Inclination

8.054°

Longitude of ascending node

43.542°

Argument of perihelion

27.481°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Part of

Jupiter trojan

Followed by

3549 Hapke

Follows

3547 Serov

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

63.885

Orbital period

4350.85294544983

Image

Eurybates-satellite-discovery.gif

via Wikidata · CC0