NEAR Pictures from asteroid Eros

A picture of the surface of asteroid Eros taken by NEAR.

 
NEAR Shoemaker's image of asteroid 433 Eros taken from a range of 250 meters (820 feet). The image is 12 meters (39 feet) across. The cluster of rocks at the upper right measures 1.4 meters (5 feet) across.

This is the last image of asteroid 433 Eros received from NEAR Shoemaker. Taken from a range of 120 meters (394 feet), it measures 6 meters (20 feet) across. What we can see of the rock at the top of image measures 4 meters (12 feet) across. The streaky lines at the bottom indicate loss of signal as the spacecraft touched down on the asteroid during transmission of this image. 

Here are some movies taken by NEAR during its observation of Eros.

Small GIF animation (1M),  Large GIF animation (4M), Large mpeg movie (14M)

NEAR Shoemaker captured this rotation movie Sept. 19, 2000, from an orbit 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Eros. The camera moves over a heavily cratered end before panning across Eros' large saddle depression. After a break in taking pictures, the frame shifts to the "terminator" between daylight and darkness. The final sequence offers a panoramic look at the opposite side of Eros before ending over the shadowed edge of the asteroid's largest crater.

Here is a movie of the Earth receding as NEAR heads out for the asteroid belt (8M mpeg file).