MUFONET-BBS GROUP  -  MUTUAL UFO NETWORK 
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                            ARTICLE / OKLAHOMA MUFON
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                       From: Oklahoma Mufonews Newsletter
                                  January 1992

                              ASTEROID 951 GASPRA
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     On  October  29,   1991,   the  United  States  spacecraft,   Galileo, 
     photographed a very small asteroid.  Because the large antenna was not 
     extended the photos were taken with the help of a small antenna.    At 
     the time, Galileo was 1,600 miles from the object. 

     What  was  disclosed  was a record of the violent history  the  little 
     asteroid  has  experienced.   951  Gaspra measures 12  by  20   by  11 
     kilometers.    The many craters which dot the surface measure  from  2 
     kilometers  in diameter to a mere 160  meters.  Ridges suggest that  a 
     much  larger object collided with 951  Gaspra with such velocity  that 
     the  small  asteroid  almost shattered into  bits.    Such  "collision 
     grooves" have been discovered on the Martian moon, Phobos. 

     Although far from being completely analyzed, the photographs hint that 
     the  composition  differs  slightly  from  the  northern  to   souther 
     hemispheres.  This has been determined due to color variation. 

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