U.S. space probe 'Shoemaker' attempts landing on asteroid

The U.S. space probe 'Shoemaker' made the world`s first attempt to land on an asteroid Monday.

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the unmanned space probe in 1996 under a initiative known as the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR).

Shoemaker began to descend on the asteroid, named 433 Eros, at 7 a.m. Monday (9 p.m. Korean Standard Time).

The asteroid moves between the Earth and Mars. NASA officials reported that Shoemaker fired its retro-rockets four times from some 4km over Eros and slowed its speed for 45 minutes while approaching Himeros, a point near the South Pole of Eros.

It was not immediately known whether the craft successfully landed on the asteroid, but NASA officials said the expected success rate was less than 1 percent. Approaching Eros, Shoemaker took photos every 30 seconds and transmitted them back to the Earth.

The space probe, which entered the orbit of Eros on Feb. 14 last year after four years of circling, took a grand total of 160,000 photographs.

Kwon Ki-Tae kkt@donga.com