NEAR took this image of butterscotch-colored Eros.
| NEAR took this image of butterscotch-colored Eros. |
Even the scientists who built the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft were stunned last week when it gently landed on the asteroid Eros. They expected NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) to crash into the 21-mile-long, potato-shaped space rock. But the craft's simple signal kept humming. "I just figured something would go wrong, but it didn't," said mission director Robert Farquhar.
Like all other asteroids, Eros orbits the sun. Five years ago, NEAR was launched to study Eros. For a year it orbited Eros and sent back data and images. Scientists hope to learn more about asteroids in case one ever comes near Earth. Many believe an asteroid hit 65 million years ago, causing the dinosaur extinction.
NASA had planned to end the mission on Valentine's Day 2001. But after last week's soft landing, they decided to collect data for 10 more days. Said Jay Bergtralh of NASA: "This is beyond our highest expectations."