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NEAR Snaps Picture of Asteroid Eros as Navigation Aid
posted: 02:17 pm ET
19 January 2000
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With an eye toward becoming the first artificial satellite of an asteroid, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft recently snapped a picture of its future host, Eros With an eye toward becoming the first artificial satellite of an asteroid, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft recently snapped a picture of its future host, Eros. Eros appears in the image above as not much more than a white speck. Snapped January 12 from 27,200 miles (45,350 kilometers) away -- closer than the distance at which most weather satellites orbit the Earth -- the image will help mission navigators confirm the asteroid's precise location and keep the spacecraft on course. Mission operators said they also snap pictures on the way in to look for natural satellites around Eros -- something that they would want to know before the spacecraft, now zooming along at 43 m.p.h. (19 meters per second) relative to Eros, goes into orbit. NEAR will be instructed to fire its thrusters on February 14 and begin to orbit Eros, a kidney-shaped object about 21 miles long and roughly 8 miles around (33 by 13 kilometers).
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