NEAR image of the day for 2000 Dec 05
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An Overview of the Saddle NEAR Shoemaker caught this overview of the inside of Eros' saddle on November 27, 2000, while taking a sequence of optical navigation images from a 194-kilometer (120-mile) altitude. This perspective, from high over the saddle's southeastern edge, captures different appearances of the northeastern part of the feature (at the top) and the southwestern part (at the bottom). Both areas have a relatively young surface devoid of large impact craters. However, the northeastern part has coarser topography and a giant cliff, visible at the top edge of the picture, whereas the southwestern section has an abundance of large boulders. The scene shown here is approximately 12 kilometers (8 miles) from top to bottom.
(Images 0150766854, 0150766916)
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Built and managed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, NEAR-Shoemaker was the first spacecraft launched in NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, small-scale planetary missions. See the NEAR web site for more details. Feedback to Scott Murchie. Scott.Murchie@jhuapl.edu.