Hi Raoul

The other day when I was blogging on the Steins flyby I couldn't say off the top of my head what the largest asteroid flyby had been to date. In 2010 it'll be 21 Lutetia - if the glitch can be fixed on Rosetta - and then it'll be Vesta when Dawn arrives, then Ceres. To add to the (hopeful) triumphs of Dawn there may be an extended mission to flyby Pallas.

Come on Europe (China, Japan, Russia).... launch another asteroid/comet mission and beat the Yanks to a few more! Inspite of Australia (&Britain) launching a satellite in the late 1960s both have become all too content watching everyone else do it... bloody Iran will get a probe to the Moon before Oz or the Old Blighty.