From: SpaceRef Mailer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 18:58:27 "GMT" Subject: SpaceRef Newsletter - NEAR Mission on Eros Extended for 10 Days At a press conference held at 1:00 PM EST today at Johns Hopkins University, NEAR mission managers announced that they would be extending NEAR's mission on the surface of Eros for at least 10 days. The spacecraft is sitting on the surface of Eros in a more or less optimal orientation for communication with Earth using the spacecraft's forward low gain antenna which provides a 10 bit per second data rate (which limits what can be accomplished). The imager has been activated and, although it is not currently taking images, the system is operational. Over the coming days the spacecraft's gamma ray spectrometer will be used to do an ultra-precise analysis of the surface composition of the minerals that comprise Eros. Researchers may be able to determine whether the dust that covers Eros is similar to - or different from what lies underneath. The magnetometer will not be activated. One additional option being considered is re-launching NEAR from the surface of Eros and then obtaining additional ultra-close images as the spacecraft moves across the face of the asteroid. _______________________________________________________________ SpaceRef is a privately held company based out of Reston, Virginia, U.S.A. Copyright © SpaceRef Interactive Inc., 2001 (u are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
