1185 Nikko

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

O. Oikawa

Discovery site

Tokyo Astronomical Obs. ( 389 )

Discovery date

17 November 1927

Named after

Nikkō (Japanese city)

Alternative designations

1927 WC · 1930 SE 1 , 1930 SG 1 · 1930 SH 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

86.78 yr (31,697 days)

Aphelion

2.4744 AU

Perihelion

2.0006 AU

Semi major axis

2.2375 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,222 days)

Mean anomaly

280.93 °

Mean motion

0° 17 40.2 / day

Inclination

5.7013°

Longitude of ascending node

71.904°

Argument of perihelion

1.9614°

Dimensions

8.347 ± 0.297 km , 11.35 km (calculated) , 12.56 ± 0.83 km

Synodic rotation period

3.781 ± 0.0326 , 3.786 15 ± 0.000 05 h , 3.788 ± 0.0326 h , 3.7889 ± 0.0004 h , 3.79 ± 0.01 h , 3.792 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Nikkō-shi

Followed by

1186 Turnera

Follows

1184 Gaea

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

8.347

Orbital period

1222.193088590588

via Wikidata · CC0