Originally, this asteroid was the target of the 1998 Deep Space 1 mission, but that mission was eventually rerouted to 9969 Braille.[9] It was named in memory of Challenger crew member Christa McAuliffe.[2]
Orbit
McAuliffe orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.2–2.6 AU once every 2 years and 7 months (941 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.37 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic.[1]
In the SMASS taxonomy, McAuliffe is a rare A-type asteroid, meaning that it is rich in olivine.[1] In addition, the large-scale survey conducted by PanSTARRS also classified as a SQ-type, a transitional type between the common stony and Q-type asteroids, indicating the presence of pyroxene minerals.[7]
Between 1998 and 2016, several rotational lightcurves of McAuliffe were obtained from photometric observations taken by astronomers Petr Pravec at Ondřejov Observatory, Czech Republic, by Andreas Howell at Willowcroft Observatory, Florida, as well as by Brian Warner at his Palmer Divide Observatory, Colorado, and at the Center for Solar System Studies, California. The best-rated lightcurve gave a rotation period of 2.206 to 2.212 hours with a brightness variation between 0.08 and 0.12 magnitude (U=3/3/2+/3-).[c][5][6][b][a]
Suspected moon
During the photometric observations in March 2012, Brian Warner found evidence of the existence of a minor-planet moon orbiting McAuliffe every 20.86 hours. However, it is only a "possible" synchronous binary system, as no mutual eclipsing/occultation events were observed.[5] Follow-up observations in September and October 2016, did not confirm the binary nature of McAuliffe.[4][b][a]
Exploration
Deep Space 1
McAuliffe, together with comet 76P/West–Kohoutek–Ikemura, were the original fly-by targets for the Deep Space 1 (DS1) mission.
Launch was scheduled for 1 July 1998. A delay in the delivery of the spacecraft's power electronics system as well as insufficient time to test the flight software caused the launch to be postponed to 24 October 1998. Due to this delay, new targets had to be selected.[9]
In July 1999, DS1 passed the alternative target 9969 Braille at a distance of 15 kilometers. In January 2001, comet 107P/Wilson–Harrington was encountered, and in September 2001, short-period comet 19P/Borrelly was passed at distance of only 2,200 kilometers.[9]
^ abcWarner (2017g): lightcurve plot of (3352) McAuliffe with a period of 2.2062 hours obtained at the Center for Solar System Studies (CS3). Quality code of 3. Publication not yet available at the "Astronomy Abstract Service". Find summary figures for (3352) McAuliffe at Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link
^ abcPravec (1998) web: rotation period of 6 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.2 mag. Dated results. Summary figures for (3352) McAuliffe at Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link