2000 Aug 01
Latest Orbit Looks Familiar to NEAR Shoemaker
NEAR Shoemaker returned to familiar territory on July 31, after a minute-long engine burn settled the spacecraft in a circular orbit 31 miles (50 kilometers) from asteroid Eros.The burn wrapped up a busy month for the NEAR mission team -- four maneuvers in all, dipping the spacecraft to an orbit 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the asteroid's center before pulling it back to its latest position. Since meeting up with Eros on Feb. 14, NEAR Shoemaker has spent more time at 31 miles -- the ideal altitude for the spacecraft's scientific instruments -- than any other distance.
Higher orbits over the next three months will allow the spacecraft to gather images and data on sections of the asteroid hidden in shadows during the early months of the mission. However, NEAR team members are currently sifting through the collection of detailed, high-resolution images snapped during the past few weeks, when NEAR Shoemaker came as low as 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the tips of the long, peanut-shaped space rock.
"The images show a lot of things we just couldn't see before, like linear features inside the craters," says NEAR imaging team member Louise Prockter. "You can also see small-scale detail on features such as the boulders."
NEAR Shoemaker is about 73.5 million miles (118 million kilometers) away from Earth, circling Eros at just over 6 miles per hour.
