281 Lucretia

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

31 October 1888

Pronunciation

/ l uː ˈ k r iː ʃ ə /

Named after

Caroline Lucretia Herschel

Alternative designations

A888 UC, 1906 FD, 1948 EK, 1984 JX

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Flora family )

Observation arc

126.00 yr (46020 d)

Aphelion

2.47750 AU (370.629 Gm )

Perihelion

1.89821 AU (283.968 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.18786 AU (327.299 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.24 yr (1182.0 d )

Mean anomaly

161.880 °

Mean motion

0° 18 16.423 / day

Inclination

5.30407°

Longitude of ascending node

31.4134°

Argument of perihelion

16.7540°

Dimensions

11.76 ± 0.9 km , 12 km

Mean density

~2.7 g/cm

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Part of

Flora family

Named after

Caroline Herschel

Followed by

282 Clorinde

Follows

280 Philia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

11.036

Mass

1.71015

Orbital period

1181.641961634493

Image

281Lucretia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0