SPACE — Asteroids are important building blocks of the solar system. When a spacecraft studies these small worlds, scientists learn more about how the universe formed from moons, planets, and of course, our own planet, Earth.
A number of spacecraft have visited asteroids in recent decades to uncover the secrets of the solar system. In the future, more similar missions will be launched soon.
Among all the many asteroid missions, all were initiated by the Galileo spacecraft. The American Space Agency’s (NASA) Galileo spacecraft was the first to visit an asteroid.
Galileo even flew past two space rocks. The mission was launched on October 18, 1989, from the space shuttle Atlantis.
Reporting from Space.com, Galileo arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995. There Galileo spent eight years studying the largest planet in the solar system.
However, before reaching Jupiter, the probe made several pit stops, including to the asteroids Gaspra and Ida.
Humanity’s first encounter with an asteroid occurred on October 29, 1991, when Galileo flew past the asteroid Gaspra. During this historic encounter, Galileo came within 1,604 kilometers of Gaspra.
Gaspra is an S type asteroid or contains silica. The data collected by Galileo managed to reveal that Gaspra has a mysterious flat area that may have been caused by an impact. It may also be a scar from when Gaspra separated from its parent asteroid.
Then, on August 28, 1993, Galileo made history again. At that time, Galileo flew past the first asteroid known to have a moon, namely Ida.
Galileo’s photos revealed that the asteroid Ida and its moon, Dactyl, were truly strange objects. Both experience space weathering which causes their surfaces to turn red over time
2023-09-13 08:46:00
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