October 27, 2000
The same gravity that holds galaxies together and keeps planets in their orbits also held you to the Earth on the day you were born.
Close To Eros
Birthday · October 27, 2000
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published October 27, 2000. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Scroll right and fly close over asteroid Eros! This long mosaic was constructed of images returned yesterday by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft as it orbited to within 6.4 kilometers of a spot in the southern hemisphere of the rotating asteroid's surface. That distance (about 21,000 feet) is less than the cruising altitude of most commercial airline flights. The digital images show that while many regions appear smooth with craters filled in by an accumulation of loose regolith, much of Eros' surface is littered with rocks and boulders. The large boulder glinting in the sunlight at the far left, just above the center of the mosaic, spans approximately 25 meters. In the high-resolution view, the smallest rocks visible are roughly human-sized at about 1.4 meters (5 feet) across. The car-sized Near Shoemaker spacecraft is now on its way to a higher, more stable orbit about 200 kilometers above asteroid Eros.