OTD In Space - August 28: Galileo Spacecraft Flies By Asteroid Ida

On Aug. 28, 1993, NASA's Galileo spacecraft flew by the asteroid Ida on its way Jupiter.

Galileo was the first spacecraft to fly by an asteroid in the asteroid belt. Ida was actually the second one it visited after another flyby of the asteroid Gaspra in 1991. It whizzed by Ida going almost 28,000 miles per hour and came within 1,500 miles of the asteroid's surface. During the encounter, Galileo actually discovered a tiny moon orbiting Ida! This was the first confirmed satellite of an asteroid. The International Astronomical Union named the moon Dactyl after a group of mythological beings who lived on a sacred mountain called Mount Ida.