Daring maneuver brings NASA’s orbiter closer to an asteroid than ever before
REx spacecraft has been orbiting the space rock since the start of the year. It caught up with the asteroid in late December of 2018 and successfully inserted itself into orbit around the object around New Year’s day. There have been several “firsts” along the way, but its latest maneuver is the most daring yet, and it allowed the spacecraft to break yet another record. A recent tweak to its orbit has brought the probe to an orbit of just 680 meters, or around 2,230 feet from the asteroid’s surface. This is now the closest that any manmade ...
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