spacetoday.net: Rosetta flies by asteroid

Posted: Sat, Sep 6, 2008, 9:39 AM ET (1339 GMT)
Rosetta image of asteroid Steins (ESA)

ESA's Rosetta spacecraft flew past an asteroid late Friday, returning some images although also suffering a problem with one camera. Rosetta passed 800 kilometers from the small main belt asteroid 2867 Steins at 2:58 pm EDT (1858 GMT) Friday. Rosetta images returned after the flyby revealed a small object, less than 5 kilometers across, with a shape similar to a cut diamond. Project officials did report that the spacecraft's narrow-angle camera switched itself into safe mode a few minutes before closest approach and turned itself back on a few hours later, apparently when the instrument's software detected a parameter beyond safe thresholds; what triggered the shutdown wasn't immediately known. The flyby is one of two asteroid encounters planned for the spacecraft before it arrives at its ultimate destination, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in 2014.