Tryst in space: Craft, asteroid rendezvous

Even NASA sometimes gets a second chance at love. On Feb. 14, a spacecraft 256 million kilometers from Earth finally cozied up to its intended, a peanut-shaped lump of rock called 433 Eros. After 4 years of relentless pursuit through the solar system, including a flubbed embrace a year ago (SN: 1/2/99, p.