Other
Scientific paper
Feb 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002psrd.repte..56t&link_type=abstract
Planetary Science Research Discoveries
Other
Asteroid, Eros, Meteorites
Scientific paper
The Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission spent about a year orbiting the asteroid 433 Eros, a 33 x 13 x 13 km chunk of rock. The main goal of the mission was to determine the chemical and mineral make up of the asteroid and to try to settle an argument about the nature of S-asteroids. S-asteroids are a somewhat diverse group of little planets with similar characteristics in the spectra of light reflected from them. The consensus was that they are mixtures of iron-magnesium silicates with some metallic iron, but that is where the agreement ended. Some scientists argued that S-asteroids are like ordinary chondrite meteorites, which are unmelted rocks left over from when the solar system formed. Others argued just as vigorously that S-asteroids are differentiated objects, little worlds that were melted soon after they formed. Using measurements of x-rays emitted from the asteroid and light reflected off it, the consensus is that Eros is more like an ordinary chondrite than any other type, though a little bit of melting cannot be ruled out. This measurement of one S-asteroid, however, has not settled the argument. More asteroids need to be visited and samples returned from them.
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