Updated: Thu, Feb 22, 2001, 9:58 PM ET (0258 GMT)
Originally Posted: Thu, Feb 22, 2001, 6:26 PM ET (2326 GMT)
Reports that NEAR Shoemaker's mission would be extended several days have turned out to be incorrect, spacetoday.net has learned. A report published on the NEAR web site Thursday afternoon had reported that the mission would be extended an additional four days to allow the spacecraft additional time to collect data from the surface of the asteroid Eros. However, a spokesperson for the Applied Physics Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University said that report was false, and it has since been removed from the project's web site. There is a remote possibility that the mission, slated to end on Saturday, 10 days after its original termination date, might be extended, but there has been no formal announcement regarding this.

Related Links:

•  NEAR mission extension news flash (now offline)
•  NEAR Shoemaker web site