Forgotten NEAR, NEAR, Mathilde and Eros |
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Forgotten NEAR, NEAR, Mathilde and Eros |
 Dec 21 2009, 07:35 AM
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#16
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 Member  Group: Members Posts: 796 Joined: 27-February 08 From: Heart of Europe Member No.: 4057  |
Mosaic from end of the mission.
Color is slightly brownish, but entirely artificial.
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Dec 21 2009, 07:45 AM
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#17
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 Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8790 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
 ...WOW!!! Thanks, Machi!!!It's amazing how mosaics really bring out the character of a region on a world in a way that single frames just can't. To me, the vast majority of those 'craters' look like collapse pits of some sort. This implies a dusty, not-very-dense regolith subject to mass-wasting events, which sort of makes sense given the very low gravitation (& also probably similar to the surface of comets, albeit with different regolith materials.) If that conjecture is true, then the obvious question is how did Eros hang onto this loose coating after billions of years of impacts that doubtless shook the hell out of it many, many times? Is the dust self-generated, perhaps by repeated thermal cycles as the asteroid rotates? -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 21 2009, 11:32 AM
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#18
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1454 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
Wow, that's pretty neat.
What is the scale resolution of the final frame? I always wondered how far NEAR was from Eros when that image was taken, how long before landing it was, and how large those rocks were. -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Dec 21 2009, 12:57 PM
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#19
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Member Group: Members Posts: 796 Joined: 27-February 08 From: Heart of Europe Member No.: 4057 |
Final resolution is 1.2 cm/pix. Altitude was around 125 meters. All images are resampled to same resolution as final image.
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Dec 22 2009, 02:35 AM
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#20
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1454 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
Ah, interesting. Thanks. =)
Of curiosity, why were there no images taken (?) after landing? Camera not pointed at Eros? Eros would have been out of focus? -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Dec 22 2009, 02:59 AM
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#21
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 Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4405 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
I believe the camera was under the spacecraft.
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Dec 22 2009, 03:20 AM
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#22
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 246 Joined: 13-October 09 From: Olympus Mons Member No.: 4972 |
QUOTE (tedstryk @ Dec 21 2009, 09:59 PM)  I believe the camera was under the spacecraft. The camera definitly had to be or else the spacecraft wouldnt be able to image its last moment before landing. unless it was spining around on landing which it wasnt.  One thing that is weird is why didnt they try to contact NEAR or try to make it image the surface if possible after landing and if that image had anything in it it would be worth more than a 1000 words about the asteroid. The image would describe the composition and strangeness of its surface. -------------------- "Thats no moon... IT'S A TRAP!"
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Dec 22 2009, 09:16 AM
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#23
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8790 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I believe that the HGA was also occluded upon landing; they lost contact with NEAR at that very moment.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 22 2009, 09:46 AM
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#24
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4405 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
They communicated via the LGA for about a month, returning gamma ray data from the surface.
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Dec 22 2009, 10:30 AM
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#25
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8790 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Ah! Forgot that, Ted, thanks!
You're awake at odd hours lately...bet I know why!!!  (It helps to remind yourself that it's not forever, man; been there!)
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 22 2009, 03:20 PM
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#26
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 76 Joined: 26-May 04 Member No.: 77 |
Re-launching NEAR off of Eros was briefly considered!
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missi...nch_010212.html Also, if memory serves, an attempt at re-contact was made some months later with no success. |
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Dec 24 2009, 04:21 AM
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#27
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 Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 55 Joined: 1-May 06 From: Cincinnati, Ohio Member No.: 758 |
QUOTE (Antdoghalo @ Dec 21 2009, 10:20 PM) or try to make it image the surface if possible after landing and if that image had anything in it it would be worth more than a 1000 words about the asteroid. The attached diagram shows that the MSI (multi-spectral imager) was bore sighted with the other instruments 180 degrees away from the LVA (large velocity adjustment thruster). NEAR-SHOEMAKER was dropped gently onto the surface with the LVA pointing up. That would put the MSI into the surface or very close to it depending upon plowing of the surface during landing. I don't know what the focal length of the MSI was, but the lens would have been WAY tro close to the surface to take a focused image. And this quote about the landed attitude from a team member: "From what I've heard, the XGRS instrument is pointed down. We're on the tips of the arrays, with a 15 - 20 degree roll. The two bottom panels are splayed forward, with the two upper panels in their normal positions. The best guess is a 17 degree angle of the main body from horizontal. However, attempts to reconcile the DSAD data (they’re mounted on the solar array hinge arms) with the amount of power being generated have failed. We might be on a slope, the aft end may be on a rock, or the hinge mounts, arms and/or panels might be bent. "
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Jul 22 2018, 04:15 PM
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#28
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Member Group: Members Posts: 306 Joined: 4-October 14 Member No.: 7273 |
Apologies for the thread necromancy, but I recently reprocessed a few imaging mosaics from the early and mid orbital phases around Eros.
 NEAR-Shoemaker - Eros  NEAR-Shoemaker - Eros  NEAR-Shoemaker - Eros  NEAR-Shoemaker - Eros Hopefully will have some time to put together more soon! |
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