It was discovered by German astronomers Max Wolf and Friedrich Schwassmann at Heidelberg Observatory on 31 October 1899, and later named after the city of Hamburg in Germany.
[3] 449 Hamburga was identified as one of three asteroids that were likely to be a parent body for chondrites along with 304 Olga and 335 Roberta.
[18] All three asteroids were known to have low-albedo (not reflect as much light) and be close to "meteorite producing resonances".
The McDonald's chain of restaurants expressed an interest in sponsoring the mission, due to the accidental similarity of the asteroid's name to the food item "hamburger", which was discussed in exploratory meetings between themselves and NASA.
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.