Nationwide
Events Mark NEAR End-of Mission
2/8/01
The
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, the first to
orbit an asteroid, has met all of its scientific goals in
its year of orbiting asteroid Eros, and will now attempt another
first: a controlled descent to the surface of the asteroid
on Feb. 12. to take close-up pictures of the boulder-strewn
surface of 433 Eros, more than 196 million miles from Earth.
"NEAR
Shoemaker has set a high standard for low-cost planetary exploration,"
said Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space
Science at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "This mission
has provided answers to a range of fundamental science questions,
and it has excited the public with its exploration and great
../../../images."
Helping
NASA share the excitement of NEAR with the public are the
Solar System Ambassadors, a group of 200 motivated volunteers
from 48 states who organize and conduct public events in their
communities to communicate NASA's discoveries and plans for
space exploration.
With
materials provided by the NEAR team, 55 Ambassadors in 27
states will hold events in February to commemorate the NEAR
touch down on Eros. Events will take place in public libraries,
planetariums, schools and college campuses, museums, observatories,
bookstores and even restaurants.
Pictured
below is Ambassador Matt Oltersdorf of Medina, Ohio, presenting
a commemorative Eros image to the President and Vice President
of the Richland Astronomical Society on Feb. 3, where Matt
gave his NEAR presentation to 16 Society members at the local
Denny's.
