Close To Eros
Explanation:
Scroll right and fly close over
asteroid Eros!
This long mosaic was
constructed of images returned yesterday by
the
NEAR Shoemaker
spacecraft as it orbited to within
6.4 kilometers of a spot in the southern hemisphere
of the rotating asteroid's surface.
That distance (about 21,000 feet) is less than the
cruising altitude of most commercial airline flights.
The digital images show that
while many regions appear smooth with craters filled in by
an accumulation of loose
regolith,
much of Eros' surface is littered with rocks and boulders.
The
large boulder glinting in the sunlight at the far left, just
above the center of the mosaic, spans approximately 25 meters.
In the high-resolution view, the
smallest
rocks visible
are roughly human-sized at about
1.4 meters (5 feet) across.
The
car-sized
Near Shoemaker spacecraft is now
on
its way to a higher, more stable orbit about 200 kilometers above
asteroid
Eros.
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.
