Deep Space 1 flew by near-Earth asteroid Braille on July 28, 1999. This image was created from a composite of two images taken by the Minature Integrated Camera Spectrometer (MICAS) 914 seconds and 932 seconds after the fly-by. Though most asteroids can be found orbiting the Sun in a belt between Mars and Jupiter called the Asteroid Belt or Main Belt, there are some whose orbits come near the Earth. Scientists believe that stray asteroids or fragments of asteroids may have slammed into Earth in the past, playing a major role both in altering the geological history of our planet and in the evolution of life on it. The prevailing theory now among scientists is that the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was linked to a devastating asteroid impact near the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. In addition to Deep Space 1, NASA is planning a number of missions in the near future to study these planetary bodies.