Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
NEAR Historic First Image from Eros Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image:
February 14, 2000, at 10:33 AM EST the NEAR spacecraft was successfully inserted into orbit around 433 Eros, becoming the first artificial satellite of an asteroid. Just over an hour later, NEAR pointed its camera at the asteroid and took this picture from a range of 210 miles (330 km) above the surface. Mission navigators and operators will use this image and others to be taken later to triangulate on landmarks on the asteroid's surface, precisely measuring position of the spacecraft to plot NEAR's course.

Features as small as a 100 feet (30 meters) across can be seen. This view shows the 3-mile (5-kilometer) impact crater which the spacecraft has spied for over a week during its approach. The two smaller craters superimposed on its rim are each about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) across. An enormous boulder a full 170 feet (50 meters) in size sits on the large crater's floor. Other key features of the surface are shallow subsurface layering exposed near the tops of crater walls, and shallow grooves crossing the surface and cutting the crater's rim.

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.…for more details.
Addition Date:
2000-05-07
Produced By:
Johns Hopkins University/APL
Mission:
NEAR
Spacecraft:
NEAR Shoemaker
Target Name:
Eros
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Multi-Spectral Imager
Product Size:
640 samples x 691 lines
Primary Data Set:
NEAR Home Page
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Crater
facet_what:
Imager
facet_what:
NEAR Shoemaker
facet_what:
Multi-Spectral Imager
facet_what:
Eros (asteroid)
facet_where:
Maryland
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
February 14, 2000
facet_when_year:
2000
Image #:
PIA02464
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA02464
orignial url:

NEAR Historic First Image from Eros Orbit