Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. A successful encounter would make NEAR the first spacecraft ever to orbit an asteroid . This image sequence was taken as NEAR approached Eros in 1998. The rotation of the asteroid is visible in the successive frames. While cruising through the solar system, NEAR has also been hunting for gamma-ray bursts as part of the operational Interplanetary Network .
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