NOTE: Groundbased Reconnaissance of Asteroid 253 Mathilde: Visible Wavelength Spectrum and Meteorite Comparison

Asteroid 253 Mathilde has been identified as a flyby target for the near-Earth asteroid rendezvous spacecraft enroute to 433 Eros. We performed 4300- to 9200-Å spectroscopy of Mathilde and found it to be a C-class asteroid, an asteroid type not yet visited by a spacecraft. We also compare Mathilde's spectrum to similar meteorite analogs such as carbonaceous chondrites and black ordinary chondrites.