NEAR at Eros: Imaging and spectral results

Eros is a very elongated (34 kilometers by 11 kilometers by 11 kilometers) asteroid, most of the surface of which is saturated with craters smaller th an 1 kilometer in diameter. The Largest crater is 5.5 kilometers across, bu t there is a 10-kilometer saddle-like depression with attributes of a large degraded crater. Surface Lineations, both grooves and ridges, are prominen t on Eros; some probably exploit planes of weakness produced by collisions on Ems and/or its parent body. Ejecta blocks (30 to 100 meters across) are abundant but not uniformly distributed over the surface. Albedo variations are restricted to the inner walls of certain craters and may be related to downslope movement of regolith. On scales of 200 meters to 1 kilometer, Ero s is more bland in terms of color variations than Gaspra or Ida. Spectra (8 00 to 2500 nanometers) are consistent with an ordinary chondrite compositio n for which the measured mean density of 2.67 +/- 0.1 grams per cubic centi meter implies internal porosities ranging from about 10 to 30 percent.