596 Scheila

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

August Kopff

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

21 February 1906

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ʃ iː l ə /

Named after

Sheila

Minor planet category

main-belt , main-belt comet

Observation arc

111.19 yr (40,611 days)

Aphelion

3.4062 AU

Perihelion

2.4490 AU

Semi major axis

2.9276 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.01 yr (1,830 days)

Mean anomaly

21.266 °

Mean motion

0° 11 48.48 / day

Inclination

14.661°

Longitude of ascending node

70.606°

Argument of perihelion

175.16°

Mean radius

56.67 ± 1.15 km ( IRAS )

Mean density

2.0 g/cm (assumed) , 2.5 g/cm (assumed)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q155758

Follows

Q155749

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

159.726

Orbital period

1837.237912678599

Image

596 Scheila, 5 minute exposure, Dec. 12, 2010.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0