NEAR Shoemaker Weekly Report 13 November 2000

MISSION OPERATIONS:

NEAR Shoemaker continues to operate in the 200 km circular orbit initiated
November 3 at 03:00 UTC when Orbit Correction Maneuver 18 (OCM 18)
successfully executed. According to the mission plan, the spacecraft will
remain in this orbit for another four weeks, after which Orbit Correction
Maneuvers 19 and 20 (OCM 19 & OCM 20) will be utilized to lower the orbit to
35 km. The 35 km circular orbit will be dedicated to X-Ray / Gamma-Ray
Spectrometer (XGRS) prime science.

Except for the NIS, science activities conducted this week included Eros
observations by the full instrument suite: MSI, MAG, XGRS and NLR. Please
consult science timelines for more details.

Upcoming Spacecraft Activities:

In addition to regular Eros Science and Optical Navigation, the following
are operationally significant activities planned for the NEAR Shoemaker
mission operation:

Dec 7 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 19 (200 km x 35 km
transfer orbit)

Dec 13 Eros Orbit Correction Maneuver 20 (35 km orbit
circularization)