Astronomy:(163249) 2002 GT
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Spacewatch |
| Discovery site | Kitt Peak National Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 April 2002 |
| Designations | |
| (163249) 2002 GT | |
| Minor planet category | NEO · PHA · Apollo[1] |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 5114 days (14.00 yr) |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 1.7945 astronomical unit|AU (268.45 Gm) |
| |{{{apsis}}}|helion}} | 0.89422 AU (133.773 Gm) |
| 1.3444 AU (201.12 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.33483 |
| Orbital period | 1.56 yr (569.33 d) |
| Mean anomaly | 196.65° |
| Mean motion | 0° 37m 56.352s / day (n) |
| Inclination | 6.9681° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 201.76° |
| 135.09° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0161099 AU (2.41001 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean diameter | 350-500 m[2] |
| Rotation period | 3.7663 h (0.15693 d) |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 18.4[1] |
(163249) 2002 GT is an Apollo asteroid with an absolute magnitude of 18.26.[1] It is a potentially hazardous asteroid as its orbit crosses that of Earth.[3]
Description
In 2011, NASA considered sending the unmanned spacecraft Deep Impact toward the asteroid with the aim of performing a flyby[3] in 2020. It was uncertain whether Deep Impact carried sufficient fuel for this operation.[3]
On 24 November 2011 and 4 October 2012, the space probe's thrusters were fired briefly for two trajectory correction maneuvers that targeted Deep Impact for an encounter with 2002 GT in 2020, possibly within a distance of no more than 400 kilometers. However, funding for the flyby mission was not guaranteed.[4] In June 2013 the asteroid was observed in radar by the Arecibo Observatory.[5]
However, on 8 August 2013 NASA lost communication with the spacecraft, and on 20 September 2013, NASA abandoned further attempts to contact the craft.[6] According to A'Hearn,[7] the most probable reason of software malfunction was a Y2K-like problem (at 11 August 2013 0:38:49 it was 232 deciseconds from 1 January 2000[8]).
See also
- List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 163249 (2002 GT)". 4 March 2009. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002%20GT;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#phys_par. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ 45th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences, October 2013, page 6
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stephen Clark, "Deep Impact sets path for asteroid encounter in 2020". Spaceflight Now. 18 December 2011.
- ↑ Emily Lakdawalla blog entry: "Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby". 5 October 2012.
- ↑ Asteroid and Comet Mission Targets Observed by Radar (archived version, 19 Dec 2013)
- ↑ NASA calls off search for lost Deep Impact comet probe - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- ↑ "NASA Declares End to Deep Impact Comet Mission Communication cutoff leads to loss of comet hunter, say space officials.". National Geographic. 20 September 2013. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/09/130920-deep-impact-ends-comet-mission-nasa-jpl/.
- ↑ "Re: [tz Deep Impact: wrong time zone?"]. tz@iana.org. 23 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002233200/http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.time.tz/7588. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
External links
- Arecibo data
- (163249) 2002 GT at NeoDyS-2, Near Earth Objects—Dynamic Site
- Ephemeris · Obs prediction · Orbital info · MOID · Proper elements · Obs info · Close · Physical info · NEOCC
- (163249) 2002 GT at ESA–space situational awareness
- (163249) 2002 GT at the JPL Small-Body Database
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