Near will go into orbit around Eros Nasa's Near spacecraft has revealed unprecedented new detail about the Eros asteroid.
New measurements show the lump of rock to be smaller than previously thought.
It has as least two medium-sized craters, a long surface ridge and a density comparable to the Earth's crust. It was supposed to go into orbit around the asteroid but an unsuccessful firing of its main engine has put this back to the middle of February 2000. Nevertheless, Near scientists are pleased with the data gathered in the flyby. It has taken some of the risk out of our orbit insertion manoeuvre and early operations. Previous radar observations had suggested Eros was 40.5 by 14.5 by 14 km.