The name of
NASA's
spacecraft that is about to land on an
asteroid named
Eros.
The NEAR -- Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous --
Shoemaker spacecraft has been circling around the Eros asteroid since
February 14,
2000.
The spacecraft was never meant to land, says NASA
spokesperson Helen Worth and may not make it in one piece. "Chances are less than one per cent for it to land intact," she said. "Plus, all the instruments are on the bottom." Once the craft lands, it will stay there and NASA has no plans to retrieve it.
Pictures of the asteroid landing attempt will be shown live on NASA's Web site, www.nasa.gov.
Thanx to Cnn.com for the quotes