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The NEAR Laser Rangefinder (NLR) records the first ever laser range returns from an asteroid. These observations were obtained during the first turn-on of the instrument while the NEAR spacecraft orbited Eros on February 28-29, 2000. The returns from this calibration pass were obtained from a short segment of the surface, close to the edge of the giant gouge shown in the Image of the Day 2000 February 17C. The range was about 290 kilometers to the surface of Eros, over 5 times the designed ranging distance. Data from the NLR obtained during the NEAR mapping mission will be used to make a precise topographic model of Eros and to study the asteroid's shape, internal structure and dynamics.
(Credit: NLR Science Team)
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Built and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, NEAR was the first spacecraft launched in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, small-scale planetary missions. See the NEAR web page at http://near.jhuapl.edu for more details. Feedback to Scott Murchie. Scott.Murchie@jhuapl.edu.