  V-type asteroids in the inner Main Belt (a < 2.5 AU) and the HED meteorites
are thought to be genetically related to one another as collisional fragments
from the surface of the large basaltic asteroid 4 Vesta. We investigate this
relationship by comparing the near-infrared (0.7-2.5 micron) spectra of 39
V-type asteroids to laboratory spectra of HED meteorites. The central
wavelengths and areas spanned by the 1 and 2 micron pyroxene-olivine absorption
bands that are characteristic of planetary basalts are measured for both the
asteroidal and meteoritic data. The band centers are shown to be well
correlated, however the ratio of areas spanned by the 1 and 2 micron absorption
bands are much larger for the asteroids than for the meteorites. We argue that
this offset in band area ratio is consistent with our currently limited
understanding of the effects of space weathering, however we can not rule out
the possibility that this offset is due to compositional differences. Several
other possible causes of this offset are discussed.
  Amongst these inner Main Belt asteroids we do not find evidence for
non-Vestoid mineralogies. Instead, these asteroids seem to represent a
continuum of compositions, consistent with an origin from a single
differentiated parent body. In addition, our analysis shows that V-type
asteroids with low inclinations (i < 6 degrees) tend to have band centers
slightly shifted towards long wavelengths. This may imply that more than one
collision on Vesta's surface was responsible for producing the observed
population of inner belt V-type asteroids. Finally, we offer several
predictions that can be tested when the Dawn spacecraft enters into orbit
around Vesta in the summer of 2011.
