1910 Mikhailov

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

L. Zhuravleva

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

8 October 1972

Named after

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1972 TZ 1 · 1950 QR, 1954 JL · 1959 GP, 1959 JK · 1961 TR, 1969 DD · A916 FC

Minor planet category

main-belt ( outer )

Observation arc

103.39 yr (37,764 d)

Aphelion

3.2044 AU

Perihelion

2.8828 AU

Semi major axis

3.0436 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.31 yr (1,939 d)

Mean anomaly

143.23 °

Mean motion

0° 11 8.16 / day

Inclination

10.362°

Longitude of ascending node

200.82°

Argument of perihelion

328.04°

Mean diameter

31.3 km , 37.201 ± 0.080

Synodic rotation period

8.88 h (0.370 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mikhailov

Followed by

1911 Schubart

Follows

1909 Alekhin

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

37.201

Orbital period

1939.064655838511

via Wikidata · CC0