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Composite View of Asteroid Braille from Deep Space 1

Aug. 3, 1999
These composite image frames were taken 914 seconds and 932 seconds after the NASA's Deep Space 1's encounter with the asteroid 9969 Braille. The image on the right was created by combining the two images on the left.

The two images on the left hand side of this composite image frame 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). The image on the right was created by combining the two images on the left. The Sun is illuminating Braille from below, as is indicated by the arrow.

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.

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