NASA in final preparations for Nov. 8 asteroid flyby

ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2011) — NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. Scientists are treating the flyby of the 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) asteroid as a science target of opportunity -- allowing instruments on "spacecraft Earth" to scan it during the close pass.Tracking of the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will begin at...

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