NEAR image of the day for 2000 Oct 17

On October 26, 2000, NEAR Shoemaker will skim less than 6 kilometers (4 miles) above Eros, taking pictures expected to show features as small as 0.7 meters (2 feet) across. Why is it so important to obtain such high-resolution images, unprecedented for a spacecraft orbiting another planetary body? Put simply, NEAR Shoemaker's photos of Eros have revealed a world of new information about the first asteroid orbited by a spacecraft. They also raised questions that scientists didn't know to ask before the orbit began: What are the characteristics of the many boulders that litter the surface, and what can they tell us about the rock that makes up the asteroid? What processes have transported regolith and uncovered the bright patches that decorate many crater walls? How did the grooves form?

The answers may be found in photos of an even higher spatial resolution. Consider this picture, taken July 17, 2000, from a mere 32 kilometers (20 miles) above the surface. It shows features as small as 3 meters (10 feet) across, revealing details in boulders that weren't evident even from the "low" 50-kilometer- (31-mile-) altitude orbit. Some boulders that looked like specks from higher up appear, with higher resolution, to consist of multiple parts, whereas other boulders appear skirted by aprons of debris.

NEAR Shoemaker's photos from next week's low flyby will reveal details four to six times smaller than those visible in this picture. They will help to answer some questions - and undoubtedly raise new ones we can't even think of yet.

(Image 0139210930)