And speaking of asteroids in the neighborhood of Earth, let us introduce you to three nearby families: the Amors, the Apollos, and the Atens.
Amors are asteroids that cross the orbit of Mars.
Apollos are asteroids that intersect the orbit of the Earth.
One of the most interesting Apollos is asteroid 3200 Phaethon. A body about 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide that approaches the sun at just under 21 million kilometers (12.6 million miles)—closer than any other known asteroid.
Although most yearly meteor showers are associated with the stream of debris left behind by comets, the Geminid shower is attributed to Phaethon—the only meteor shower that originates from the debris left behind by an asteroid.
And finally, the Atens are a class of asteroids whose orbits are smaller than Earth's orbit. Among the largest is 443 Eros, the Greek god of love. And scientists have gotten quite intimate with 433 Eros, thanks to the visiting Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission which, after many close flybys, actually touched down on the surface, the first spacecraft to land upon an asteroid.