2207 Antenor

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

N. Chernykh

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

19 August 1977

Pronunciation

/ æ n ˈ t iː n ər /

Named after

Antenor (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1977 QH 1 · 1959 EM, 1971 BE 1 · 1978 UU

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Trojan · background

Adjectives

Antenorian

Observation arc

59.20 yr (21,622 d)

Aphelion

5.2316 AU

Perihelion

5.0584 AU

Semi major axis

5.1450 AU

Orbital period sidereal

11.67 yr (4,263 d)

Mean anomaly

73.993 °

Mean motion

0° 5 4.2 / day

Inclination

6.8058°

Longitude of ascending node

159.14°

Argument of perihelion

304.18°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Antenor

Followed by

2208 Pushkin

Follows

2206 Gabrova

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

97.658

Orbital period

4296.954807538165

via Wikidata · CC0