Aster › Space program › 253 Mathilde
253 Mathilde
Position on the route: 24/181 · level needed 57 · journey (Mk0 engine) 9.8 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | ≈ 52 km |
|---|---|
| Density | ≈ 1.3 g/cm³ |
| Rotation | 17.4 days |
| NEAR | 27 June 1997 |
The story
Mathilde is a dark, carbon-rich C-type asteroid found by Johann Palisa in 1885. On its way to Eros, NEAR Shoemaker passed it at 1,200 km on 27 June 1997: the first close images of a C-type asteroid.
Its density is very low (about 1.3 g/cm³, a little above water): it is largely empty space, a rubble pile that soaks up impacts like a sponge, which is why it can carry craters nearly as large as its own radius.
Missions
- NEAR Shoemaker (NASA, 1997): a flyby
Colony note
Dark and carbonaceous; a mining outpost for ice and carbon.
What probes bring back
- NEAR Shoemaker passed at 1,200 km on 27 June 1997: the first close images of a C-type asteroid. Its density is only about 1.3 g/cm³: a porous rubble pile.
- About 52 km across, it carries several craters nearly as large as its radius; it turns once in 17 days, one of the slowest rotators known.