1066 Lobelia

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

1 September 1926

Pronunciation

/ l oʊ ˈ b iː l i ə /

Named after

Lobelia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1926 RA · 1941 SK, 1965 AL 1 · A911 QB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

106.28 yr (38,818 d )

Aphelion

2.9050 AU

Perihelion

1.8990 AU

Semi major axis

2.4020 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.72 yr (1,360 days)

Mean anomaly

146.53 °

Mean motion

0° 15 52.92 / day

Inclination

4.8237°

Longitude of ascending node

345.15°

Argument of perihelion

16.910°

Dimensions

6.014 ± 0.404 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Lobelia

Followed by

1067 Lunaria

Follows

1065 Amundsenia

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

6.014

Orbital period

1359.756307473837

via Wikidata · CC0