Key facts
- Category
- Asteroids
- Object class
- S-type main-belt asteroid
- Mass
- ~10 trillion metric tons
- Scale fact
- 18.2 kmmaximum extent
- Estimated age
- ~4.5 billion years
- Composition
- Silicate rock with metal
951 Gaspra
18.2 kmmaximum extent
18.2km
Details
951 Gaspra is the first asteroid ever seen up close, photographed by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1991 on its way to Jupiter. The flyby passed about 1,600 kilometers away and revealed an irregular, cratered S-type body about 18 kilometers long.
Galileo passed about 1,600 kilometers from Gaspra on 29 October 1991 and returned the first close images of an asteroid. They resolved an irregular body with craters, grooves and a loose surface layer.
Links
- Preset views
- Wikipedia
- 951 Gaspra on Wikipedia
- Universe journey
- Asteroid belt & Jupiter
Size neighbors
Objects near 951 Gaspra on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, 951 Gaspra falls between Deimos and Crab Pulsar. Compared below with other objects classed as S-type main-belt asteroid.
Shared physical scale
45.7km
Sources
References for 951 Gaspra
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, write to hello@scaleofspace.org.
- 951 Gaspra on Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Galileo 1991 / NASA / JPL, Public domain)
Continue with nearby objects or open the full scale.
About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.