Putting NEAR’s Images in Perspective

Johns Hopkins University released a picture showing the surface of Eros with an image of the Empire State Building for scale. We at SpaceRef thought that something a bit more familiar would provide a better sense of scale to the marvelous images the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft is sending back. In its current 50 km (31 miles) orbit objects as small as 4 meters (13 feet) will be visible. Later this year NEAR will get as close as 21 miles (35 kilometers) to Eros. A Boeing 747-400 is 231 ft/71 m long.

° NEAR image of the day, 8 May 2000

° Focus On Near, SpaceRef