When I wrote the first part of Heavenly Potato, I had been reading about asteroids, and came across the mention of Eros.  The shape of it reminded me of a potato, and the images NASA has of it could be an inspection of a potato in black and white.  It is rather interesting to look at when you consider the size and shape of this rock that is orbiting the sun.

There is a lot of good fun astronomy to be found on the NASA website, but for today, the information about Eros comes from the asteroid section found here: Overview | Asteroids, Comets & Meteors – NASA Solar System Exploration

Part of my intent with the way I started the Potato story, was to use a resemblance to science in the way the story unfolds.  My thought was that I could use something that an astronomer might know as a valid reference point.  Eros was what I chose for that.

First, Eros is an object that has been know for more than a hundred years.  Second, it was the first asteroid to be orbited by a spacecraft.  It is historic.

Third, and probably the thing that I was most looking for, it is relatively large.  It is about 33 km x 13 km x 13 km.