Aster › Space program › 2867 Šteins
2867 Šteins
Position on the route: 21/181 · level needed 59 · journey (Mk0 engine) 8.8 h
By the numbers
| Size | ≈ 6.7 km |
|---|---|
| Year | 3.6 years |
| Type | E-type |
| Rosetta | 5 September 2008 |
The story
Šteins is a main-belt asteroid found by Nikolai Chernykh in 1969, named for the Latvian astronomer Kārlis Šteins. Rosetta passed it at 800 km on 5 September 2008 on its way to Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
A rare E-type: bright and rich in enstatite. It is diamond-shaped, with a crater about 2 km wide and a chain of craters across its equator. Its spin may have been sped up by sunlight pressure (the YORP effect).
Missions
- Rosetta (ESA, 2008): a flyby
Colony note
Bright, rare silicates; a mining outpost.
What probes bring back
- Rosetta passed at 800 km on 5 September 2008. A rare E-type asteroid about 6.7 km across, shaped like a cut diamond.
- A crater about 2 km wide sits near the north pole and a chain of craters runs across its equator; the YORP effect may have spun it up.