771 Libera

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

J. Rheden

Discovery site

Vienna Observatory

Discovery date

21 November 1913

Pronunciation

Classically / ˈ l ɪ b ə r ə /

Named after

friend of discoverer

Alternative designations

1913 TO · 1958 HA

Minor planet category

main-belt · (middle)

Observation arc

101.75 yr (37166 d)

Aphelion

3.3092 AU (495.05 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9937 AU (298.25 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6514 AU (396.64 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1576.9 d )

Mean anomaly

268.14 °

Mean motion

0° 13 41.844 / day

Inclination

14.936°

Longitude of ascending node

218.19°

Argument of perihelion

227.36°

Earth moid

1.03684 AU (155.109 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

772 Tanete

Follows

770 Bali

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

29.322

Orbital period

1576.402758535232

Image

771Libera (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0