3709 Polypoites

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. Shoemaker

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

14 October 1985

Pronunciation

/ p ɒ l i ˈ p iː t iː z /

Named after

Polypoites , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1985 TL 3 · 1971 OK 1 , 1979 HQ 2 · 1985 WK

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Greek · background

Adjectives

Polypoitian

Observation arc

46.17 yr (16,865 d)

Aphelion

5.5573 AU

Perihelion

4.9230 AU

Semi major axis

5.2401 AU

Orbital period sidereal

12.00 yr (4,381 d)

Mean anomaly

203.47 °

Mean motion

0° 4 55.92 / day

Inclination

19.620°

Longitude of ascending node

187.12°

Argument of perihelion

246.05°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Polypoetes

Followed by

3710 Bogoslovskij

Follows

3708 Socus

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

65.297

Orbital period

4352.542131974611

via Wikidata · CC0