Post by thread:[OT] Asteroid Rendezvous [OT]

No PICs here (probably) or hybrids for that matter (or water rockets). Hopefully of value nonetheless. Yell at me (offlist) if too too OT RM ==================================================== LAUREL, Md. (AP) - A robot craft that missed its mark a year ago is on target for a Valentine's Day rendezvous with an asteroid named for the Greek god of love. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft is approaching the asteroid Eros slowly and is expected to slip into orbit around the mountain-sized space rock at midmorning Monday. If successful, NEAR will become the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid. Researchers hope data compiled about Eros could one day help humans defend the Earth against a "killer asteroid" like one thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Eros, a potato-shaped rock, is 21 miles long and eight miles wide; by comparison, New York's Manhattan island is about 13 1/2 miles long and 2 1/2 miles wide. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2564224832-66b