Latest Eros Asteroid Images Reveal Cratered Surface

HOUSTON - The latest images and data from the asteroid Eros show a boulder-
and crater-covered world with deposits of iron and silicon.

Scientists unveiled the latest findings from the Near Earth Asteroid
Rendezvous (NEAR) probe's exploration of Eros at a press conference Monday
during the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference being held at Johnson Space
Center.

"We have found that Eros is literally covered with craters smaller than about
1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in diameter," said Dr. Clark Chapman of the Southwest
Research Institute.

Data returned by the NEAR spacecraft show that the asteroid Eros is not just a
single, solid space rock. Previous images had indicated the asteroid might
have regolith, a loose layer of rock bound to the asteroid by gravity. Recent
observations, announced at the conference, confirm that suspicion.

The rubble may represent leftovers from catastrophic events, when other space
rocks crashed into Eros, researchers said. Eros certainly bears the scars of a
violent past.

"It's a battered place," said Cornell University's Dr. Peter Thomas. "There
are lots of boulders scattered on the surface."

Researchers have speculated that some asteroids are mostly made of loose
collections of smaller rocks.  If an asteroid were ever found to be on a
collision course with Earth, knowing if it were a solid rock or a rubble pile
might determine what method to use in an effort to deflect the space rock.

Initial scans of the asteroid with an X-ray spectrometer have detected the
presence of magnesium, iron, silicon and possibly aluminum and calcium.

NEAR rendezvoused with Eros on February 14 and currently orbits the asteroid
at a distance of about 124 miles (200 kilometers). Scientists plan to lower
NEAR?s orbit to about 62 miles (100 kilometers) in April.

By Glen Golightly 

Houston Bureau Chief, posted: 07:30 am ET 14 March 2000

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/near_eros_update_000313.html

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast14feb_1a.htm