After traveling more than a billion-and-a-half miles, a tiny, remote-controlled US spacecraft will make history next month by taking a close look at an asteroid.
The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft was launched in February 1996, and will orbit and study 433 Eros beginning 10 January.
"We expect to get astounding information," said Robert Farquhar of Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. "What we now know about asteroids is very limited. It's come from ground-based observations and quick fly-bys. But now, for the first time, we're going to go into orbit around an asteroid and study it intensely for a year."
A series of engine burns beginning Sunday will help NEAR catch up to the faster-moving asteroid. It will finally lock into orbit at 10 a.m. EDT on 10 January, a mere 9 miles from Eros.
NEAR will be the first spacecraft to orbit a small body, an acute challenge given that asteroids tumble around in space as they orbit the sun, unlike the smooth trajectories of planets.
Reuters contributed to this report.
