in august 1988 in the united states' city of baltimore, p. weissman addressed the international astronomical union on a mission to this asteroid (449), a mission which also include a rendezvous with comet kopf. see comet rendezvous asteroid flyby for more on the mission to the comet. this mission can also be compared to rosetta, which successfully flew by two minor planets and orbited a comet during its approach to the sun in the early 21st century. p. weissman later worked on the rosetta mission.