1107 Lictoria

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. Volta

Discovery site

Pino Torinese Obs.

Discovery date

30 March 1929

Named after

Fasces Lictores , (Symbol of fascism )

Alternative designations

1929 FB · A909 UB, A917 DF · A924 KC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hygiea

Observation arc

108.28 yr (39,549 days)

Aphelion

3.5809 AU

Perihelion

2.7885 AU

Semi major axis

3.1847 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.68 yr (2,076 days)

Mean anomaly

312.44 °

Mean motion

0° 10 24.24 / day

Inclination

7.0735°

Longitude of ascending node

110.84°

Argument of perihelion

351.35°

Mean diameter

69.93 ± 25.12 km , 78.86 km (derived) , 79.079 ± 0.298 km , 79.17 ± 2.9 km , 80.73 ± 0.96 km , 86.724 ± 1.421 km

Synodic rotation period

8.56 h , 8.561 h , 8.5616 ± 0.0002 h , 8.5681 ± 0.0001 h , 8.586 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox