NEAR FLYBY OF 253-MATHILDE - IMAGES OF A C-ASTEROID

On 27 June 1997, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft flew within 1212 kilometers of asteroid 253 Mathilde. Mathilde is an i rregular, heavily cratered body measuring 66 kilometers by 48 kilomete rs by 46 kilometers. The asteroid's surface is dark (estimated albedo between 0.035 and 0.050) and similar in color to some CM carbonaceous chondrites. No albedo or color variations were detected. The volume de rived from the images and the mass from Doppler tracking of the spacec raft yield a mean density of 1.3 +/- 0.2 grams per cubic centimeter, a bout half that of CM chondrites, indicating a porous interior structur e.