125 Liberatrix

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

Paul Henry and Prosper Henry

Discovery date

11 September 1872

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l ɪ b ə r eɪ t r ɪ k s /

Alternative designations

A872 RA; 1902 EG;, 1943 FE; 1949 OE 1 ;, 1949 SM; 1954 TD 1

Minor planet category

Main belt , ( liberatrix )

Observation arc

143.54 yr (52428 d)

Aphelion

2.95698 AU (442.358 Gm )

Perihelion

2.53084 AU (378.608 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.74391 AU (410.483 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.55 yr (1660.2 d )

Average orbital speed

17.96 km/s

Mean anomaly

307.971 °

Mean motion

0° 13 0.642 / day

Inclination

4.66407°

Longitude of ascending node

169.003°

Argument of perihelion

109.288°

Earth moid

1.51912 AU (227.257 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.13019 AU (318.672 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

126 Velleda

Follows

124 Alkeste

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

48.418

Mass

87

Orbital period

1658.896659251911

Image

125Liberatrix (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0