2058 Róka

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. Kulin

Discovery site

Konkoly Obs.

Discovery date

22 January 1938

Named after

Gedeon Róka (1906–1974), (Hungarian science writer)

Alternative designations

1938 BH · 1951 NP, 1962 NA · 1963 UM, 1974 SZ 1 · 1978 AE, 1985 UL 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · Themis

Observation arc

79.18 yr (28,920 days)

Aphelion

3.5790 AU

Perihelion

2.6682 AU

Semi major axis

3.1236 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2,016 days)

Mean anomaly

17.333 °

Mean motion

0° 10 42.6 / day

Inclination

2.5352°

Longitude of ascending node

95.329°

Argument of perihelion

180.50°

Dimensions

21.12 km (derived) , 21.36 ± 3.1 km , 23.40 ± 0.52 km , 24.122 ± 0.246 km , 24.273 ± 0.234 km

Synodic rotation period

10.04 ± 0.02 h , 10.09 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

2059 Baboquivari

Follows

Q844932

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

24.273

Orbital period

2030.298254019602

via Wikidata · CC0