Asteroid Eros Reconstructed
Explanation:
Orbiting the
Sun between
Mars and
Earth, asteroid 433 Eros was visited by the
robot spacecraft NEAR-Shoemaker in 2000 February.
Some of the 100,000+ images taken by
NEAR of the
tumbling space rock
have been combined into the
above high-resolution composite.
NEAR allowed scientists to
discover that Eros is a single solid body,
that its composition is nearly uniform,
and that it formed during the early years of our
Solar System.
Mysteries remain, however, including why some
rocks on the surface have disintegrated.
On 2001 February 12, the NEAR mission drew to a
dramatic close as it was
crash landed onto the
asteroid's surface,
surviving well enough to return an
analysis of the
composition of the surface
regolith.
Unless re-awakened by
NASA,
NEAR will likely remain on the
asteroid
for billions of years as a monument to
human ingenuity at the turn of the
third millennium.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
