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Comet-Chasing Spacecraft Encounters Rare Asteroid

Posted by Soulskill on from the needle-in-a-hay dept.

Riding with Robots writes "Yesterday the robotic spacecraft Rosetta, on its way to a distant encounter with Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, flew by the asteroid 'Steins,' which is roughly 4.6 kilometers wide. Steins is one of the relatively rare E-type asteroids. The mission team live-blogged throughout the day, and a press conference with the first pictures will be available soon." Rosetta's flyby took it to within 800 kilometers of Steins while both objects were roughly 360 million kilometers from Earth. According to Rosetta's fact sheet (PDF), the craft will next swing by Earth in 2009 and take a look at another asteroid in 2010 on its way to the rendezvous with the comet in 2014.

40 comments

  1. Relatively rare? by bigtallmofo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Steins is one of the relatively rare E-type asteroids.

    The summary says they're rare, but the Wikipedia article indirectly linked says they form a majority of the asteroids "inward of the main belt". I'm very confused!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-type_asteroid

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
    1. Re:Relatively rare? by cp.tar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not that I know anything about them, but the asteroids inward of the main belt seem to be a minority, compared to all the other asteroids in the main belt and beyond it. A majority of that subset can still be a relative minority.
      Insert voter population analogy here.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    2. Re:Relatively rare? by totally+bogus+dude · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yo momma's a numerical minority, but a relative supermajority by volume.

    3. Re:Relatively rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You could have just said a "your mommas so fat" joke instead you know...

    4. Re:Relatively rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The wiki link for E-type asteroids in the starting comment is clearer.

      E-type (44 Nysa, 55 Pandora) differ from M-type mostly by high albedo

      M-types are metallic...

      So does that mean the scientist got distracted by a bright and shiny object?

    5. Re:Relatively rare? by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      A numerical minority?
      Look, my momma's so fat that her chins alone can win her the presidential election.

      That, my friend, is a majority, however you look at it.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    6. Re:Relatively rare? by Tailsfan · · Score: 1

      lol. and there is few inner assteroids by mass and volume as well

    7. Re:Relatively rare? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Hey, I've met your momma. She was at the beach last summer selling shade until she sneezed and the cops thought there was a riot and tried to break it up.

      I remember it like it was yesterday, she was wearing a pair of yellow and black checkered pants and when she bent over to get her ID from her purse, they split down the center and before anyone knew it, two guys got in thinking it was a yellow cab. (and no, that was a shot at yellow cab, not your momma)

  2. E-type? by cheebie · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the linked Wikipedia entry:

    # X-group

            * M-type (16 Psyche) metallic objects, the third most populous group.
            * E-type (44 Nysa, 55 Pandora) differ from M-type mostly by high albedo
            * P-type (259 Aletheia, 190 Ismene; CP: 324 Bamberga) differ from M-type mostly by low albedo

    So, the probe has encountered a shiny metal asteroid. Has anyone informed Bender?

    1. Re:E-type? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damnit, I had to look up the definition of a word, but you made me laugh

    2. Re:E-type? by knutkracker · · Score: 5, Funny

      So, the probe has encountered a shiny metal asteroid. Has anyone informed Bender?

      Fron Wikipedia:

      M-type asteroids are asteroids of unknown composition

      E-type (44 Nysa, 55 Pandora) differ from M-type mostly by high albedo (0.3 or better)

      "Bite my moderatley-reflective mystery-material ass-teroid"?

    3. Re:E-type? by jav1231 · · Score: 2, Funny

      " * E-type (44 Nysa, 55 Pandora) differ from M-type mostly by high albedo"

      I think the word is "libido" and clearly if this type of asteroid were characterized by "high" libido it wouldn't be so rare!

    4. Re:E-type? by AmonTheMetalhead · · Score: 1

      No R-Type? Dang :(

    5. Re:E-type? by UncleTogie · · Score: 1

      Also from Wikipedia:

      E-type asteroids are asteroids thought to have enstatite achondrite surfaces.

      Might be where they get the "metal" part from... ;)

      --
      Don't tell me to get a life. I'm a gamer; I have LOTS of lives!
  3. Some Nice pictures by mbone · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here are the first results. The asteroid has a nice crater chain on it and looks roughly like a cut diamond.

    1. Re:Some Nice pictures by tenco · · Score: 1

      This series of craters really looks strange. What's the probability of this?

    2. Re:Some Nice pictures by mbone · · Score: 2, Informative

      And text to go with the images.

    3. Re:Some Nice pictures by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      3720 to 1.

      Never tell me the odds.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    4. Re:Some Nice pictures by mbone · · Score: 1

      By the way, the asteroid is 2867 Steins. (The numbers are generally included with the name.)

    5. Re:Some Nice pictures by meringuoid · · Score: 5, Informative
      This series of craters really looks strange. What's the probability of this?

      A lot of asteroids are fairly loosely built, more like heaps of rubble than large boulders. So: let such an asteroid have a close encounter with a planet on its travels, let us say Jupiter. Let it pass close to the planet, and be torn apart by tidal forces, and then escape on the other side. It's now a strung-out row of smaller bodies - remember Shoemaker-Levy 9? Then passing through the main asteroid belt, let it collide with a more solid asteroid. Result: a chain of impact craters.

      You see similar things on larger bodies - there are impact chains on the Moon, for instance - but these are attributed to debris ejected from a larger impact falling back to the surface further along from the impact site. On an asteroid I doubt gravity would pull anything back, so we'd need a third party to have arranged for a series of impacts instead.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    6. Re:Some Nice pictures by OolimPhon · · Score: 1

      How many Libraries of Congress is that?

    7. Re:Some Nice pictures by morcego · · Score: 1

      remember Shoemaker-Levy 9?

      REMEMBER Shoemaker-Levy 9 ? Dude, get a life! Geez.

      --
      morcego
    8. Re:Some Nice pictures by Tailsfan · · Score: 1

      too bad the craters ruin the appearance

  4. It's made of meat! by Eternal+Annoyance · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    and I prefer my meat well done.

  5. Good hope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lets hope the comet smashes into the spacecraft and they both get destroyed!!! Hurray!!!

  6. Forget the E-Type... by davidc · · Score: 1

    ...Call me when the spacecraft encounters an XKR Coupe.

  7. E-Type?! by TigerPlish · · Score: 4, Funny

    So it's prone to rust, hates humidity and corners like a cat on velcro?

    brrrm!

    --
    The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
  8. That's no asteroid... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Or maybe it is...

    1. Re:That's no asteroid... by Tailsfan · · Score: 1

      highy advance civilizations don't fy around in cratered ships.

  9. Pick a number between one and ten by arkarumba · · Score: 1

    Pick a number between one and ten

    1. Re:Pick a number between one and ten by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      3.482948662948566746738596987291294083636401837

      You didn't say it had to be an integer.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    2. Re:Pick a number between one and ten by arkarumba · · Score: 1

      wrong!

      Want to pick another?

      *grin*

  10. Thats no asteroid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hmmm..
    According to wikipedia, E-type is metallic but with a high albedo.
    - "that's no asteroid!"

  11. Re:if NASA can afford to run.. by 0123456 · · Score: 1

    obscure probes like this, why can't it spend more money on the shuttle?

    The website URL might give you a hint :).

    I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that this probe was funded by ESA, without any NASA money.

  12. "Live-blogged" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't this just called news updates? I can't wait until the word "blog" stops being used to describe processes that already have less stupid sounding names.

  13. Yay for metric! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love you guys!