A Rare Flby of Eros

摘要

THE FIRST NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID ever discovered was 433 Eros in 1898. It made history then, in part by enabling the first accurate measurement of the astronomical unit and hence the scale of the solar system. It made history again in 2000 and 2001, when NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker probe took up orbit around it and then descended to its dusty surface.