* Astronomy

On June 27, 1997 the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft flew within 1200 km of asteroid Mathilde at 12:56 UT at 9.93 km/s, returning imaging and other instrument data. The flyby produced over 500 images which covered 60% of Mathilde's surface, as well as gravitational data allowing calculations of Mathilde's dimensions and mass.
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NEAR: Asteroid Mathilde Flyby (1997.06.27)

253 Mathilde is a main-belt asteroid about 50 km in diameter that was discovered by Johann Palisa in 1885. It has a relatively elliptical orbit that requires more than four years to circle the Sun. This asteroid has an unusually slow rate of rotation, requiring 17.4 days to complete a 360° revolution about its axis. It is a primitive C-type asteroid, which means the surface has a high proportion of carbon; giving it a dark surface that reflects only 4% of the light that falls on it. 
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