Wrapping up a busy day that included a historic low pass over asteroid Eros, the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft fired its thrusters one more time and headed for a higher orbit on Thursday afternoon.

An image mosaic was taken in the early hours of October 26, as NEAR Shoemaker made its low-altitude flyover of Eros. At the time of closest approach, the camera was looking at a region just 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) away. Much of the surface is covered in rocks of all sizes and shapes, set on a gently rounded surface. Other regions are smooth, suggesting accumulation of fine regolith. The smallest rocks seen are about 1.4 meters (5 feet) across. Photo: JHU/APL

At 1:40 p.m. EDT, the three-minute engine burn lifted the spacecraft from a low-altitude orbit -- during which NEAR Shoemaker buzzed a mere three miles (5.3 kilometers) over one of Eros' ends -- toward a more stable position 125 miles (200 kilometers) from the center of the asteroid. The burn was the longest since NEAR Shoemaker began orbiting Eros eight months ago.

"Had we stayed there, the low orbit could have brought the spacecraft dangerously close to the asteroid," says Dr. Robert Farquhar, NEAR mission director. "When you make a close pass like that the gravity field affects the spacecraft a lot more than it would otherwise, so we helped it along with a maneuver."

Taken while the spacecraft's digital camera was looking at a spot 8 kilometers (5 miles) away. Rocks of all sizes and shapes are set on a gently rolling, cratered surface. Locally, fine debris or regolith buries the rocks. The large boulder at the center of the scene is about 25 meters (82 feet) across. Photo: JHU/APL

Meanwhile, the NEAR team has just started to sift through the close-ups NEAR Shoemaker's digital camera snapped during the flyover.

"We've never seen the surface of an asteroid or planetary satellite at this high resolution without actually landing," says Dr. Scott Murchie, NEAR imaging team member. "What strikes me most about the pictures is the diversity in the sizes and shapes of the rocks. When we analyze these high-resolution images in more detail, we'll learn something about the processes that have shaped the surface of Eros."

From just 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away, most of this scene is covered in rocks of all sizes and shapes, but the floors of some craters are smooth, suggesting accumulation of fine regolith. For scale, the large boulder just below and to the right of the center of the picture is about 15 meters (50 feet) across. The smallest visible rocks are about 1.4 meters (5 feet) across. Photo: JHU/APL