PIA01345: Enhanced Image of Asteroid Braille from Deep Space 1
 Target Name:  Braille
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Deep Space 1 (DS1) 
 Spacecraft:  Deep Space 1
 Instrument:  Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  606 x 621 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  U.S. Geological Survey
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA01345.tif (21.19 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA01345.jpg (5.881 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image was created from a composite of two images which were taken 914 seconds and 932 seconds after the recent Deep Space 1 (DS1) encounter with the asteroid 9969 Braille by the Miniature Integrated Camera Spectrometer (MICAS). Interpolated values were then computed for each pixel in the final image based on the neighboring pixels of the composite. The interpolation minimizes the spatial frequency artifacts of the final image. The Sun is illuminating Braille from below.

Braille (also known as 1992 KD) was discovered on May 27, 1992 by astronomers Eleanor Helin and Kenneth Lawrence using the 46 centimeter (18 inch) Shmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory, while scanning the skies as part of the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey.

Deep Space 1 was launched into orbit around the Sun on October 24, 1998 at 5:08 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida on a Delta 7326, a variant of the Delta II rocket. An ion engine, operating for more than 1800 hours, was used to maneuver the spacecraft for an encounter with Braille. The closest approach of DS1 to the asteroid, at an approximate distance of 15 kilometers, occurred on July 29, 1999 at 04:45 Universal Time, July 28 at 9:46 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/USGS

Image Addition Date:
1999-08-03