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Discovery
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| Discovered by | E. F. Helin, J. Alu |
| Discovery date | June 29, 1989 |
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Designations
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| Alternate name(s) | 1992 WA |
| Minor planet category |
Amor |
| Epoch June 14, 2006 (JD 2453900.5) | |
| Aphelion | 216.357 Gm (1.446 AU) |
| Perihelion | 164.358 Gm (1.099 AU) |
| Semi-major axis | 190.358 Gm (1.272 AU) |
| Eccentricity | 0.137 |
| Orbital period | 524.284 d (1.44 a) |
| Average orbital speed | 26.28 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 285.977° |
| Inclination | 4.378° |
| Longitude of ascending node | 104.407° |
| Argument of perihelion | 183.249° |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | 0.6 km |
| Mass | 2.3×1011? kg |
| Mean density | 2.0? g/cm³ |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.0002? m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 0.0003? km/s |
| Rotation period | ? d |
| Albedo | 0.10? |
| Temperature | ? |
| Spectral type | X |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 19.5 |
(10302) 1989 ML is an as yet unnamed near-Earth asteroid. It is approximately 0.6 km in diameter. An Amor asteroid, it orbits between Earth and Mars. It is an X-type asteroid, so its surface composition is yet unknown. It was discovered by Eleanor F. Helin and Jeff T. Alu at Palomar Observatory on June 29, 1989.
The Delta-v ('effort') required to reach 1989 ML from a low-Earth orbit is only 4.8 km/s, ranking fifth (as of March 2007) amongst the near-Earth asteroids with well-established orbits. 1989 ML is thus particularly 'easy' (and 'cheap') to reach by spacecraft.
1989 ML was considered as a target of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa (then Muses-C) but had to be given up due to technical reasons. It was also considered by the European Space Agency as a candidate target for the Don Quijote mission to study the effects of impacting a spacecraft into an asteroid; however, they too changed to other targets.[1]
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