EROS not so Mysterious

Etchings on Eros and Mars
Etchings on Eros and Mars

The following message is from Reuters: On February 12, the world’s first spacecraft will land on an asteroid – Eros, named after the Greek god of love – and stream a series of photographs in nearly real time. That equates to two images a minute, which will be streamed to the Web site www.near.jhuapl.edu At…


So NEAR, and yet so far from UNDERSTANDING

Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris

On Valentine’s Day, 2000, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft is is due, on its second attempt, to go into orbit around asteroid 433 Eros. It will be the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. NEAR will examine the odd-shaped rock, about twice the size of Manhattan Island, for about a year. What do…