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(meteorobs) Excerpts from "CCNet, 20/2000 - 14 February 2000"




------- Forwarded Message

From: Benny J Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk
Subject: CCNet, 14 February 2000
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 12:29:57 -0500 (EST)

CCNet, 20/2000 - 14 February 2000
---------------------------------


(1) NEAR APPROACHING ON SCHEDULE
    From http://near.jhuapldot edu/news/flash/00feb13_1.html

(2) NEAR CAPTURES AN ASTEROID'S HEART
    Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>

(3) GUESS WHO'S COMING TO BREAKFAST?
    Space Science News <express@spacescience.com> wrote:

(4) EROS IS WAITING
    The Guardian, 10 February 2000

(5) SPACECRAFT FINDS LOVE AT LAST (BBC)
    http://news.bbc.codot uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_642000/642052.stm

(6) ASTEROID MISSION FILLED WITH ROMANCE (MSNBC)
    http://msnbc.com/news/204520.asp?cp1=3D1

(7) NEW CASSINI IMAGES OF ASTEROID AVAILABLE
    Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasadot gov>

[...]


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(1) NEAR APPROACHING ON SCHEDULE

http://near.jhuapldot edu/news/flash/00feb13_1.html
February 13, 2000=20

NEAR is cruising toward 433 Eros for tomorrow's historic rendezvous=20
with the asteroid. The NEAR team at the Johns Hopkins University=20
Applied Physics Laboratory indicates all spacecraft systems are=20
operating as planned.

Around 2 a.m. (EST) today, NEAR began a rendezvous sequence that=20
includes a unique low-phase flyby of Eros. Scheduled to happen around=20
midnight tonight, the flyby will put NEAR directly between the sun=20
and Eros and allow it to map the minerals on the asteroid's northern
half under optimal lighting.

NEAR team members will download data from this sequence early=20
tomorrow, about four hours before the spacecraft moves into position=20
for orbit insertion at 10:33 a.m. Eastern time.

NEAR Science Update
http://near.jhuapldot edu/news/sci_updates/00feb13.html
February 13, 2000

On February 11, 2000 at 15:20 UT, the NEAR imager recorded a most=20
curious observation of Eros. It was late afternoon of that day when I=20
was pulled aside and asked to 'have a look at something'. That=20
something turned out to be the amazing heart-shaped feature that can=20
be seen in today's image-of-the-day, which was taken at a distance of=20
1609 miles (2590 km). This image has undergone only our standard=20
processing and has not been retouched (except for the arrow drawn on=20
it). The 'heart of Eros' is actually a 5 km long depression in the
surface, and it appears as a heart because of an accidental=20
confluence of shadows. The same feature can be discerned in the Eros=20
images from December 1998 but was not as well resolved at that time.=20
It can be seen in the image-of-the-day from December 23, 1998. In=20
that nine-frame montage, the first frame on the left in the
bottom row shows the feature clearly, about half way to the upper end=20
of Eros starting from the bright saddle-shaped depression. The three=20
earlier frames and the next frame also show the feature. The=20
saddle-shaped depression may be the largest crater on Eros, but the
heart-shaped depression is basically mysterious at this time. By 
April we should have a much clearer idea as to what it is.

Andy Cheng
NEAR Project Scientist

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(2) NEAR CAPTURES AN ASTEROID=92S HEART

>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>

Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
Laurel, Maryland

Media Contacts:=20

Mike Buckley (JHUAPL)=20
240-228-7536=20
michael.buckley@jhuapldot edu=20

Helen Worth (JHUAPL)=20
240-228-5113=20
helen.worth@jhuapldot edu=20

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2000=20

NEAR Captures an Asteroid's Heart

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft has a Feb. 14=20
date with a space rock named for the Greek god of love, but the=20
romantic robot isn't waiting until Valentine's Day to send greetings=20
from asteroid 433 Eros.=20

NEAR has snapped about 8,000 photos of its intended since January,=20
and no picture says love like the latest image showing a large heart=20
carved in the asteroid. The image is available on the NEAR Web site=20
at
     http://near.jhuapldot edu/iod/20000213b/index.html

"It truly is a valentine from Eros," says NEAR Mission Director Robert =
Farquhar.=20

NEAR's digital camera captured the feature Feb. 11 from 1,609 miles=20
(2,590 kilometers) away. The image surprised science team members=20
yesterday as they processed the incoming data. The narrow, 3-mile=20
(5-kilometer) heart-shaped depression appears just below a large=20
ridge on the 21-mile (33-kilometer) potato-shaped asteroid. Until the=20
spacecraft sends closer images, however, NEAR team members at the=20
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) can't say=20
for sure what the shadowy heart really is.=20

"It's a tantalizing mystery," says Dr. Joseph Veverka, of Cornell=20
University, who leads the NEAR imaging team. "It makes you wonder,=20
what other secrets are lurking in the heart of Eros?"=20

NEAR will begin unfolding such mysteries when the spacecraft meets up=20
with Eros tomorrow at 10:33 a.m. (EST) and becomes the first=20
spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. APL designed and built NEAR and=20
manages the mission for NASA. For the latest mission news and images,=20
visit the NEAR Web site at http://near.jhuapldot edu .=20

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(3) GUESS WHO'S COMING TO BREAKFAST?

>From Space Science News <express@spacescience.com> wrote:

Space Science News for February 13, 2000

Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?: The NEAR spacecraft is now less than=20
1000 km from asteroid 433 Eros. It is scheduled to enter orbit around=20
the space rock at 10:33 EST on Monday morning. Critical science=20
observations are slated to begin 11 hours earlier when the spacecraft=20
passes directly between the Sun and Eros. FULL STORY at

http://www.spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast13feb_1.htm

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(4) EROS IS WAITING

>From The Guardian, 10 February 2000
http://www.newsunlimited.codot uk/science/story/0,3605,134998,00.html

At last astronomers are to get their first close up view of a=20
near-Earth asteroid, explains Duncan Steel=20

Thursday February 10, 2000=20

This must be the satellite malfunction that Nasa engineers planned. =20
Just before Christmas in 1998 a faulty rocket burn by the Near-Earth=20
Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) space probe meant abandoning the plans to=20
meet its target on February 6 last year. Of course, the world jeered=20
yet another expensive failure. But the engineers may have the
last laugh, because they re-targeted Near to reach its destination on=20
February 14.=20

Why is that amusing? Because that's Valentine's Day, and the target is=20
Eros. Asteroid Eros, that is. Actually it gets better, and sub-editors
will soon be able to have all manner of fun writing headings about this =

erotic encounter.=20

FULL STORY at

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(5) SPACECRAFT FINDS LOVE AT LAST (BBC)

FULL STORY at =
http://news.bbc.codot uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_642000/642052.stm

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(6) ASTEROID MISSION FILLED WITH ROMANCE (MSNBC)

FULL STORY at http://msnbc.com/news/204520.asp?cp1=3D1
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(7) NEW CASSINI IMAGES OF ASTEROID AVAILABLE

>From Ron Baalke <baalke@jpl.nasadot gov>

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109.  TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasadot gov

Contact:  Jane Platt

INTERNET IMAGE ADVISORY				February 11, 2000

NEW CASSINI IMAGES OF ASTEROID AVAILABLE

New images taken by the camera onboard the Saturn-bound Cassini=20
spacecraft are giving scientists the first size estimates on asteroid=20
2685 Masursky and preliminary evidence that it may have different=20
material properties than previously believed.

"The Masursky images represent the first time that Cassini has gathered
information on a body not extensively studied from Earth," said Carolyn =
C.
Porco, Cassini imaging team leader and associate professor at the Lunar =
and
Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

The images, taken on Jan. 23, also marked the first use of Cassini's
automated object-targeting capabilities, and they functioned as =
expected,
Porco said.  The two new images are available at the following =
websites:
http://www.jpl.nasadot gov/pictures/cassini and =
http://ciclops.lpl.arizonadot edu
 =20

Launched October 15, 1997, Cassini flew by Venus and Mars before =
heading
toward a flyby of Jupiter next December. It entered the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter, a region populated by asteroids, in =
mid-November
of 1999.

Cassini's camera took pictures of the asteroid when the spacecraft was =
7
hours and 5-1/2 hours before closest approach, at a distance of 1.6 =
million
kilometers (960,000 miles).  Since Masursky is too small to be measured
from Earth, scientists hoped Cassini could help them determine its =
size, as
well as its reflectivity, asteroid category, and possibly its rotation =
period.

"So far, the images reveal that the side of Masursky imaged by Cassini =
is
roughly 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 12 miles) across," Porco said.=20

The Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at Saturn in July 2004 to
begin a four-year exploration of the ringed planet and its moons. The
Cassini mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in =
Pasadena,
Calif., for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.=20

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