title: NEAR's flyby of 253 mathilde: images of a C asteroid
abstract: On 27 June 1997, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft flew within 1212 kilometers of asteroid 253 Mathilde. Mathilde is an irregular, heavily cratered body measuring 66 kilometers by 48 kilometers by 46 kilometers. The asteroid's surface is dark (estimated albedo between 0.035 and 0.050) and similar in color to some CM carbonaceous chondrites. No albedo or color variations were detected. The volume derived from the images and the mass from Doppler tracking of the spacecraft yield a mean density of 1.3 +/- 0.2 grams per cubic centimeter, about half that of CM chondrites, indicating a porous interior structure.
authors.affiliation: J. Veverka, P. Thomas, A. Harch, B. Clark, J. F. Bell III, B. Carcich, J. Joseph, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. C. Chapman and W. Merline, Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Str.
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veverka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harch
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carcich
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Merline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malin
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: McFadden
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murchie
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Farquhar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izenberg
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cheng