1692 Subbotina

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

16 August 1936

Named after

Mikhail Subbotin , (Soviet scientist)

Alternative designations

1936 QD · 1927 SL, 1930 FG · 1931 OA, 1935 GJ · 1935 JJ, 1940 LK · 1941 SO 1 , 1941 UA · 1949 HL 1 , 1950 RZ · 1951 YM 1 , 1955 SO 2 · 1964 RC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

88.24 yr (32,228 d)

Aphelion

3.1731 AU

Perihelion

2.4012 AU

Semi major axis

2.7871 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.65 yr (1,700 d)

Mean anomaly

289.80 °

Mean motion

0° 12 42.48 / day

Inclination

2.4273°

Longitude of ascending node

199.66°

Argument of perihelion

111.88°

Mean diameter

36.075 ± 0.380 km , 36.59 ± 1.7 km , 38.11 ± 0.53 km

Synodic rotation period

9.2457 ± 0.0005 h

via Wikipedia infobox