Fact Sheet
Bumpy Landing
After orbiting the asteroid 433 Eros for a year, the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft will touch down on the asteroid on February 12. Ground controllers don't expect it to survive the contact, though, because it was not designed as a lander. It's dropping onto the asteroid because it has completed its mission and is almost out of fuel. This image, snapped January 25, shows boulders on Eros as small as six feet (two meters) across.
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