247 Eukrate

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

Robert Luther

Discovery date

14 March 1885

Pronunciation

/ j uː ˈ k r eɪ t iː /

Named after

Eucrate

Alternative designations

A885 EB, 1901 TB, 1947 TA, 1960 TC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

131.09 yr (47880 d)

Aphelion

3.4086 AU (509.92 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0778 AU (310.83 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7432 AU (410.38 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.54 yr (1659.5 d )

Average orbital speed

18.0 km/s

Mean anomaly

75.9892 °

Mean motion

0° 13 0.948 / day

Inclination

24.991°

Longitude of ascending node

0.16410°

Argument of perihelion

54.969°

Mean diameter

130.935 ± 0.505 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

130.935

Orbital period

1655.877225159961

Image

247Eukrate 20180512 (OccultationAndInversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0