Asteroid 4 Vesta : Dynamical and collisional evolution during the Late Heavy Bombardment
Asteroid 4 Vesta is the only currently identified asteroid for which we possess samples in the form of meteorites. These meteorites revealed us that Vesta is a differentiated body and that its differentiation produced a relatively thin basaltic crust that survived intact over its entire collisional history. The survival of the vestan basaltic crust has long been identified as a pivotal constraint