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Tryst with Eros Yields Fly-Around Video
By
posted: 03:47 pm ET
24 March 2000
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eros_movie The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft, orbiting the Eros asteroid millions of miles (kilometers) from Earth, has sent back a movie of one of its flyovers. The video was taken as the spacecraft flew around the asteroid, and shows a region of the asteroid in sharply different lighting conditions. 
[inset] These contrasting lighting conditions highlight different aspects of the asteroid. When the sun shines from below, the shadows cast by Eros's landforms become apparent. When the sun shines from above, one can see how various features on the asteroid's surface reflect light differently. "The combination of illuminations maximizes the ability to characterize landforms and to separate the effects of topography from differences in reflectivity," NASA wrote in a release. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft was launched in February 1996, slated to become the first asteroid orbiter. After failing to achieve orbit during its first encounter with the space rock a year earlier, it was successful on its second, and began orbiting Eros -- the name of the Greek god of love -- on February 14, 2000 -- Valentine's Day.
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