465 Alekto

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

13 January 1901

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ l ɛ k t oʊ /

Named after

Ἀληκτώ Ālēktō

Alternative designations

1901 FW, 1949 YE1, 1949 YU, 1968 PB, A907 EF, A916 YC

Minor planet category

Main-belt asteroid

Adjectives

Alektoian / æ l ɪ k ˈ t oʊ . i ə n /

Observation arc

115.24 yr (42091 d)

Aphelion

3.7315 AU (558.22 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4538 AU (367.08 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.0927 AU (462.66 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.44 yr (1986.5 d )

Mean anomaly

8.223375 °

Mean motion

0° 10 52.396 / day

Inclination

4.6493°

Longitude of ascending node

300.6133°

Argument of perihelion

283.7859°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Alecto

Followed by

466 Tisiphone

Follows

464 Megaira

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

73.34

Orbital period

2004.731248053773

via Wikidata · CC0