3753 Cruithne
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3753 Cruinthe, known in Orbiter simply as Cruinthe is a asteroid, belonging to the w:Aten asteroid group, in an elliptical solar orbit with almost a 1:1 resonance with the Earth, and was discovered on 10 October 1986 by w:Duncan Waldron. It's orbit takes Cruinthe from the orbit of Mercury to beyond that of Mars. In Orbiter, Cruinthe was added as an Add-on by Burnrate in 2009.
Physical Characteristics in Orbiter
Cruinthe has a diameter of about 3300 meters, and a mass of 4.05×1013 kg. The surface gravity is only about .00099 m/s2 and escape velocity is about 1.8 m/s, so, one may be able to jump beyond escape velocity. When landing a spacecraft, it may touch down slightly above or below the surface.
Orbital Characteristics in Orbiter
Cruinthe revolves around the Sun at a distance of just under 1 AU, almost the same distance as the Earth, with an eccentricity of a bit over 0.5, resulting in an orbit that ranges from just outside that of Mercury out past that of Mars. Orbiting the Sun in slightly under a year, it is in lockstep with Earth, approaching within about 12 million km, then drifting to the opposite side of the Sun from the Earth, to about the same distance on the other side of the Earth.
Cruinthe rotates upon its axis in 98784 seconds, or 27h 26m 34s.
The landing light of the DeltaGlider doesn't seem to work on Cruinthe.
See also
- Orbits of Cruinthe and Earth.gif
Links to external website