1931 Čapek

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. Kohoutek

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

22 August 1969

Named after

Karel Čapek , (Czech writer)

Alternative designations

1969 QB · 1957 TK, 1969 PB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

59.76 yr (21,826 days)

Aphelion

3.2311 AU

Perihelion

1.8513 AU

Semi major axis

2.5412 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.05 yr (1,480 days)

Mean anomaly

297.94 °

Mean motion

0° 14 35.88 / day

Inclination

8.2623°

Longitude of ascending node

182.43°

Argument of perihelion

164.55°

Dimensions

6.628 ± 0.214 km

Geometric albedo

0.254 ± 0.035

via Wikipedia infobox