Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 08:59:17 -0800 (PST) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Controlled Descent By NEAR Underway Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: undisclosed-recipients:; http://near.jhuapl.edu/news/flash/01feb12_1.html Controlled Descent Underway February 12, 2001 The first controlled descent to an asteroid is underway! NEAR Shoemaker successfully moved out of its circular orbit today at 10:32 a.m. (EST), firing its thrusters and heading toward the surface of Eros. "This was the critical opening maneuver," says NEAR Mission Operations Manager Robert Nelson, monitoring the spacecraft from the NEAR Mission Operations Center at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "Now we'll work with the NEAR navigation team [at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory] to examine the pictures and ranging data taken after the engine burn, and establish the spacecraft's location. Then we'll send one more set of commands to NEAR Shoemaker's computer, setting the timing for the final descent and imaging sequences later today." The spacecraft was about 16 miles (26 kilometers) from Eros when the maneuver started. NEAR Shoemaker will essentially drift toward the rotating asteroid for the next three hours, until starting the series of four "braking" maneuvers that will slow it from 20 mph to about 5 mph. The first of these engine bursts will occur when NEAR Shoemaker reaches a point 3 miles (5 kilometers) above Eros. After taking close-up images of the surface during the last leg of its journey, the craft is expected to touch down in an area outside Eros' saddle-shaped depression, Himeros, at approximately 3:05 p.m. EST. == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
