  We investigated the physical properties and dynamical evolution of Near Earth
Asteroid (NEA) (190491) 2000 FJ10 in order to assess the suitability of this
accessible NEA as a space mission target. Photometry and colour determination
were carried out with the 1.54 m Kuiper Telescope and the 10 m Southern African
Large Telescope during the object's recent favourable apparition in 2011-12.
During the earlier 2008 apparition, a spectrum of the object in the 6000-9000
Angstrom region was obtained with the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope.
Interpretation of the observational results was aided by numerical simulations
of 1000 dynamical clones of 2000 FJ10 up to 10^6 yr in the past and in the
future. The asteroid's spectrum and colours determined by our observations
suggest a taxonomic classification within the S-complex although other
classifications (V, D, E, M, P) cannot be ruled out. On this evidence, it is
unlikely to be a primitive, relatively unaltered remnant from the early history
of the solar system and thus a low priority target for robotic sample return.
Our photometry placed a lower bound of 2 hrs to the asteroid's rotation period.
Its absolute magnitude was estimated to be 21.54+-0.1 which, for a typical
S-complex albedo, translates into a diameter of 130+-20 m. Our dynamical
simulations show that it has likely been an Amor for the past 10^5 yr. Although
currently not Earth-crossing, it will likely become so during the period 50 -
100 kyr in the future. It may have arrived from the inner or central Main Belt
> 1 Myr ago as a former member of a low-inclination S-class asteroid family.
Its relatively slow rotation and large size make it a suitable destination for
a human mission. We show that ballistic Earth-190491-Earth transfer
trajectories with Delta-V < 2 km s^-1 at the asteroid exist between 2052 and
2061.
