Nearer To Asteroid Eros . ... Credit Copyright: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA Explanation: As the robot spacecraft NEAR lowers itself toward asteroid 433 Eros , more surface details are becoming visible. Last week's maneuvers brought NEAR to within 204 kilometers of the floating mountain's surface . With increased resolution, NEAR's camera then documented Eros' unusual shape , craters large and small, boulders , and mysterious grooves similar to asteroid Gaspra and Martian moon Phobos . ...