Deep Space Radar Unveils Rotating Asteroid 2010 JL33

A radar image of asteroid 2010 JL33, generated from data taken by NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar on Dec. 11 and 12, 2010. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Intriguing details about the physical properties and characteristics of a recently discovered asteroid have just been unveiled in amazing images obtained using a large radar dish in California. The radar dish serves as a key component of NASA?s Deep Space Network (DSN). The Near Earth asteroid, dubbed 2010 JL33, was imaged by radar on Dec. 11 and 12, 2010 at NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar in California’s Mojave Desert when a close approach to Earth offered an outstanding opportunity for high quality science.

Asteroids studies have taken on significantly increased importance at NASA ever since President Obama decided to cancel the Constellation ?Return to the Moon? program and redirect NASA?s next human spaceflight goal to journeying to an Asteroid by around 2025.

Update: Orbital diagram added below
A sequence of 36 amazingly detailed images has been assembled into a short movie (see below) (...)
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© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Asteroids, Astronomy, Deep Space Network, NASA

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