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(163249) 2002 GT

Apollo asteroid

Field	Value
minorplanet	yes
background	#FFC2E0
name	(163249) 2002 GT
discoverer	Spacewatch
discovery_site	Kitt Peak National Obs.
discovered	3 April 2002
mp_category	NEOPHAApollo
mpc_name	(163249) 2002 GT
orbit_ref	{{cite web
date	4 March 2009
title	JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 163249 (2002 GT)
url	https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002%20GT;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#phys_par
accessdate	7 April 2016}}
epoch	13 January 2016 (JD 2457400.5)
observation_arc	5114 days (14.00 yr)
uncertainty	0
aphelion	1.7945 AU
perihelion	0.89422 AU
semimajor	1.3444 AU
eccentricity	0.33483
period	1.56 yr (569.33 d)
inclination	6.9681°
asc_node	201.76°
mean_motion	/ day (n)
mean_anomaly	196.65°
arg_peri	135.09°
moid	0.0161099 AU
mean_diameter	350-500 m
rotation	3.7663 h
abs_magnitude	18.4

(163249) 2002 GT is an Apollo asteroid with an absolute magnitude of 18.26. It is a potentially hazardous asteroid as its orbit crosses that of Earth.

Description

In 2011, NASA considered sending the unmanned spacecraft Deep Impact toward the asteroid with the aim of performing a flyby in 2020. It was uncertain whether Deep Impact carried sufficient fuel for this operation.

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 about 200 kilometers. However, funding for the flyby mission was not guaranteed. In June 2013 the asteroid was observed in radar by the Arecibo Observatory.

However, on 8 August 2013 NASA lost communication with the spacecraft, and on 20 September 2013, NASA abandoned further attempts to contact the craft. According to A'Hearn, 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).

References

[https://aas.org/files/resources/dps45_abstract_book.pdf 45th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences], October 2013, page 6
Stephen Clark, [http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1112/17deepimpact/ "Deep Impact sets path for asteroid encounter in 2020"]. ''Spaceflight Now''. 18 December 2011.
Lakdawalla, Emily. (5 October 2012). "Deep Impact targets possible 2020 asteroid flyby".
[https://web.archive.org/web/20131219022156/http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/~lance/radar.small.body.mission.targets.html Asteroid and Comet Mission Targets Observed by Radar] (archived version, 19 Dec 2013)
[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-21/nasa-calls-off-search-for-deep-impact-comet-probe/4972930 NASA calls off search for lost Deep Impact comet probe] - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Retrieved 21 September 2013.
(20 September 2013). "NASA Declares End to Deep Impact Comet Mission Communication cutoff leads to loss of comet hunter, say space officials.". National Geographic.
(23 September 2013). "Re: [tz] Deep Impact: wrong time zone?". tz@iana.org.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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