سیارک ۲۶۴

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

(264) Libussa

Orbit class

Main-belt

Semi-major axis

2.799 AU

Eccentricity

0.135

Inclination

10.424 °

Absolute magnitude

8.280 H

via Minor Planet Center

Key facts

Discovered by

C. H. F. Peters

Discovery date

22 December 1886

Pronunciation

German: [ ˈliːbʊsaː ]

Named after

Libuše

Alternative designations

A886 YA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

123.02 yr (44934 d)

Aphelion

3.1799 AU (475.71 Gm )

Perihelion

2.41375 AU (361.092 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.79681 AU (418.397 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.68 yr (1708.4 d )

Average orbital speed

17.81 km/s

Mean anomaly

254.88 °

Mean motion

0° 12 38.592 / day

Inclination

10.426°

Longitude of ascending node

49.608°

Argument of perihelion

340.891°

Dimensions

50.48 ± 2.7 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Libuše

Followed by

265 Anna

Follows

263 Dresda

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

62.969

Orbital period

1710.530395372093

Image

264Libussa (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0