3212 Agricola

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

19 February 1938

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ ɡ r ɪ k ə l ə /

Named after

Mikael Agricola (reformer)

Alternative designations

1938 DH 2 · 1982 BB 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

78.37 yr (28,626 days)

Aphelion

2.5980 AU

Perihelion

1.9148 AU

Semi major axis

2.2564 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.39 yr (1,238 days)

Mean anomaly

180.14 °

Mean motion

0° 17 26.88 / day

Inclination

7.8102°

Longitude of ascending node

109.97°

Argument of perihelion

35.064°

Dimensions

4.442 ± 0.287 km , 5.41 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Georgius Agricola

Followed by

3213 Smolensk

Follows

3211 Louispharailda

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

4.442

Orbital period

1238.13588149915

via Wikidata · CC0