An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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An elongated → asteroid with dimensions of about 20 × 12 × 11 km. Gaspra is classified as an → S-type asteroid and is likely composed of metal-rich silicates and perhaps blocks of pure metal. It is a member of the → Flora family. It has a → rotation period of 7.04 hours. On October 29, 1991, the → Galileo spacecraft came within 1,600 km of Gaspra. They passed each other at 8 km/s. This was the first time that a spacecraft made a → flyby of an asteroid. Gaspra was discovered by Grigoriy N. Neujamin, Ukrainian astronomer, in 1916.

Named by its discoverer for a resort on the Crimean peninsula that was visited by contemporaries such as Tolstoy and Gorky.