Q149175

Also known as (248) Lameia, Lameia

main-belt asteroid

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: 5 June 1885
Pronunciation: / l ə ˈ m iː ə /
Named after: Lamia
Alternative designations: A885 LA, 1959 LO

~2 min read

Article

248 Lameia is a typical main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa on 5 June 1885 in Vienna and was named after the Lamia, a lover of Zeus in Ancient Greek mythology. 248 Lameia is orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.88 years and a low eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.067. The semimajor axis of 2.47 AU is slightly inward from the 3:1 Kirkwood Gap. Its orbital plane is inclined by 4° to the plane of the ecliptic.

On 27 June 1998 an occultation of the 8th magnitude star PPM 236753 (HD 188960) by 248 Lameia was timed by five observers near Gauteng, South Africa. The chords produced a rough size estimate of a 62 × 53 km ellipse. The size estimate based on IRAS Minor Planet Survey data is ~49 km. The rotation rate of this object is commensurate with the rotation of the Earth, requiring observations from different locations to build a complete light curve. These yield a rotation estimate of 11.912±0.001 h with a brightness variation of 0.17±0.01 magnitude in amplitude. The same data set gives a size estimate of 47±3 km, in agreement with earlier measurements.