568 Cheruskia

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

Paul Götz

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

26 July 1905

Pronunciation

/ k ɛ ˈ r ʌ s k i ə / , German: [ çeːˈʁʊskiaː ]

Alternative designations

1905 QS

Observation arc

109.28 yr (39913 d)

Aphelion

3.3652 AU (503.43 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3978 AU (358.71 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.8815 AU (431.07 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.89 yr (1786.6 d )

Mean anomaly

164.09 °

Mean motion

0° 12 5.4 / day

Inclination

18.392°

Longitude of ascending node

249.791°

Argument of perihelion

174.386°

Mean radius

43.495 ± 0.9 km

Synodic rotation period

13.209 h (0.5504 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0535 ± 0.002

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Cherusci

Followed by

Q155609

Follows

567 Eleutheria

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

71.224

Orbital period

1786.360830905274

via Wikidata · CC0