Yahoo! News :: Science

European spacecraft flys by asteroid, camera stops (AP)

<p><a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080906/ap_on_sc/sci_asteroid_flyby"><img src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080905/capt.bfe1b2baceac4aa2a530e8fbc5b536a6.germany_asteroid_flyby_fra116.jpg?x=89&y=130&q=85&sig=8tdcMumkHy_WUjTx1sXSOg--" align="left" height="130" width="89" alt="A Feb. 25, 2007 file photo shows mission specialists at the ESA European Space Operation Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, southwestern Germany, operating the Rosetta probe during it's fly-by of planet Mars. European Space Agency ESA scientists are preparing for the first fly-by of an asteroid by their deep-space explorer, Rosetta, on a mission to solve the mystery of the birth of the solar system. Rosetta is set to rendezvous with the Steins asteroid, also known as Asteroid 2867, just before 1900 GMT on Friday, Sept. 5, 2008 at a distance of just less than 500 miles (800 kilometers). (AP Photo/Daniel Roland, File)" border="0" /></a>AP - The European deep space probe Rosetta successfully completed a flyby of an asteroid millions of miles from earth, but its high resolution camera stopped shortly before the closest pass, space officials said Saturday.</p><br clear="all"/>