SPACE.com -- Asteroid Eros May Be As Old as Solar System


	Asteroid Eros May Be As Old as Solar System posted: 07:21 pm ET 30 May 2000

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WASHINGTON, May 30 (States News Service) -- The birth of a 21-mile- (34-kilometer-) long asteroid known as Eros may have coincided with the formation of the solar system -- a discovery that may show how other space rocks evolved, according to new data from NASA.

The data from NASAs Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) probe suggest Eros is a primitive body that has escaped the heating and melting processes that have affected complex planetary bodies like Earth and the moon. It has gone largely unchanged since the formation of the solar system.

The information shows Eros has a similar composition to a chondrite -- the most primitive form of meteorite found on Earth. Chondrites are stony and composed of the same ratio of heavy elements found in the sun. One of the most abundant kinds of meteorites, they appear to be haphazard agglomerations of the various elements that existed when the solar system was just a hot, swirling cloud of dust and gas.

The Eros evidence, presented this week by the American Geophysical Union in Washington, may help scientists understand how the solar system was formed, said Dr. Tim McCoy of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, and a scientist on the mission, in a statement.

"If more data confirm Eros is primordial, Eros will be a link between the chondrite meteorites found on Earth and the history of the solar systems formation," McCoy said. "With Eros, we could be looking at the structure of the solar system during a time no longer recorded on Earth."

The spacecraft orbiting Eros, known as NEAR-Shoemaker, has circled the asteroid 37 times since it entered orbit last February. It's altitude has been continually reduced to its current orbit of 31 miles (50 kilometers).

NEAR-Shoemaker took a 3.7 mile (6 kilometer) snapshot of Eros as the asteroid emitted a storm of powerful X-rays after being zapped by a solar eruption May 4. The X-rays provided a fingerprint of the asteroids chemical composition.

The next step for the craft is to descend to within 12 to 18 miles (19 to 29 kilometers) of Eros surface -- the closest look yet at the asteroid. The projects scientists hope that looking into craters on the surface will reveal the asteroids interior. That mission is expected in July.

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