Aster › Space program › 951 Gaspra
951 Gaspra
Position on the route: 16/130 · level needed 40 · journey (Mk0 engine) 8.3 h
By the numbers
| Size | ≈ 18 × 11 × 9 km |
|---|---|
| Year | 3.3 years |
| Found | 1916, Neujmin |
| Galileo | 29 October 1991 |
The story
Gaspra is an S-type asteroid in the inner main belt, found by Grigory Neujmin in 1916. On its way to Jupiter, Galileo passed it at 1,600 km on 29 October 1991: the first close images of an asteroid. They showed an irregular, cratered and grooved body.
Its surface looks like the product of a collision that broke up a larger body: very few large craters, many small ones and linear grooves. Gaspra is now counted as a member of the Flora family.
Missions
- Galileo (NASA, 1991): the first close asteroid flyby
Colony note
Small and silicate; a mining outpost.
What probes bring back
- Galileo flew past on 29 October 1991: the first close images of any asteroid.
- About 18 × 11 × 9 km, an S-type; its surface shows more groove-like lines than craters: the remnant of a broken larger body.