(163249) 2002 GT
(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]
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Spacewatch |
| Discovery site | Kitt Peak National Obs. |
| Discovery date | 3 April 2002 |
| Designations | |
| (163249) 2002 GT | |
| NEO · PHA · Apollo [1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 5114 days (14.00 yr) |
| Aphelion | 1.7945 AU (268.45 Gm) |
| Perihelion | 0.89422 AU (133.773 Gm) |
| 1.3444 AU (201.12 Gm) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.33483 |
| 1.56 yr (569.33 d) | |
| 196.65° | |
| 0° 37m 56.352s / day (n) | |
| Inclination | 6.9681° |
| 201.76° | |
| 135.09° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0161099 AU (2.41001 Gm) |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | 350-500 m[2] |
| 3.7663 h (0.15693 d) | |
| 18.4[1] | |
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 November 24, 2011 and October 4, 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 August 8, 2013 NASA lost communication with the spacecraft, and on September 20, 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]).
References
- "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 163249 (2002 GT)". 4 March 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- 45th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences, October 2013, page 6
- 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 September 21, 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.
- [tz] Deep Impact: wrong time zone? Archived October 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine