243 Ida
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243 Ida is an asteroid in the Koronis family of the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 29 September 1884 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at Vienna Observatory and named after a nymph from Greek
Enhanced color Galileo image of 243 Ida. Pola Regio is located on the right "tip" of the asteroid. The dot to the right is its moon Dactyl.
Polished section of an ordinary chondrite meteorite
Size comparison of Ida, several other asteroids, the dwarf planet Ceres, and Mars
Successive images of a rotating Ida
Galileo (spacecraft)
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Galileo was an American robotic space probe that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted of
243 Ida
…observations categorized Ida as an S-type asteroid, the most numerous type in the inner asteroid belt. On 28 August 1993, Ida was visited by the uncrewed Galileo spacecraft while en route to Jupiter. It was the second asteroid visited by a spacecraft and the first found to have a natural satellite. Ida's orbit…
Artist's concept of Galileo at Io with Jupiter in the background. In reality, the high-gain foldable antenna failed to deploy in flight.
Diagram of the atmospheric entry probe's instruments and subsystems
In the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF), Galileo is prepared for mating with the Inertial Upper Stage booster.
Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-34, carrying Galileo into Earth orbit