4341 Poseidon

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

29 May 1987

Named after

Poseidon , ( Greek mythology )

Alternative designations

1987 KF

Minor planet category

Apollo · NEO

Observation arc

30.05 yr (10,975 days)

Aphelion

3.0819 AU

Perihelion

0.5881 AU

Semi major axis

1.8350 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.49 yr (908 days)

Mean anomaly

93.192 °

Mean motion

0° 23 47.4 / day

Inclination

11.852°

Longitude of ascending node

108.11°

Argument of perihelion

15.652°

Earth moid

0.1941 AU · 75.6 LD

Mean diameter

2.32 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

3.177

Orbital period

907.3718636300948

via Wikidata · CC0