(3352) McAuliffe
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Asteroid (3352) McAuliffe |
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| Properties of the orbit ( animation ) | |
| Orbit type | Cupid type |
| Major semi-axis | 1,879 AU |
| eccentricity | 0.3689 |
| Perihelion - aphelion | 1.186 AU - 2.572 AU |
| Inclination of the orbit plane | 4.772 ° |
| Sidereal period | 2.576 a |
| Mean orbital velocity | 21.73 km / s |
| Physical Properties | |
| Medium diameter | 2.4 km |
| Dimensions | ? kg |
| Albedo | 0.18 |
| Medium density | ? g / cm³ |
| Rotation period | 3.0 h |
| Absolute brightness | 15.55 mag |
| Spectral class | A. |
| history | |
| Explorer | Norman G. Thomas |
| Date of discovery | 1981 |
| Another name | 1981 CN |
| Source: Unless otherwise stated, the data comes from JPL Small-Body Database Browser . The affiliation to an asteroid family is automatically determined from the AstDyS-2 database . Please also note the note on asteroid items. | |
(3352) McAuliffe is an asteroid of the Amor type that on 6 February 1981 by Norman G. Thomas was discovered. It was originally intended to be the target of the Deep Space 1 mission. The start of the probe was postponed and instead selected as the new target Asteroid (9969) Braille .
The asteroid was named after the American teacher and astronaut Sharon Christa McAuliffe , who died on January 28, 1986 as a payload expert on the Challenger flight STS-51-L . The space shuttle was torn apart shortly after takeoff by the explosion of its liquid fuel tank.