4660 Nereus
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Discoverer |
E. F. Helin - 1982 |
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Diameter (km) |
0.7 - 1.5 |
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Mass (kg) |
? |
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Rotation period (hrs) |
15.1 |
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Orbital period (yrs) |
0.55078 |
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Semimajor axis (AU) |
1.48950 |
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Orbital eccentricity |
0.36007 |
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Orbital Inclination (deg) |
1.42412 |
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Albedo |
? |
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Type |
? |
| Nereus is the most accessible kilometer-sized object known and a leading candidate for exploration by spacecraft. Its delta-V for rendezvous is smaller than the Moon's and also smaller than that for any other asteroid with magnitude less than 19.5, that is, with diameter greater than about 0.46 km. It presents frequent mission opportunities and was at one point the prime target for both the Japanese-U.S. Muses-C sample-return mission and Spacedev's Near-Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP) Mission. Reliable determination of the object's spectral class has proven difficult. |
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Images of 4660 Nereus |
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Last updated: December 6, 2002.
