NEAR Shoemaker, originally launched as the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe, was a robotic space probe built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit. It was renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker. In February 2000 the spacecraft entered orbit around Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, and on February 12, 2001, it touched down on the asteroid surface, becoming the first spacecraft to land on one as well, with operations ending about two weeks later.
Facts
Spacecraft Type Status
Status (category)Mission Complete / Ended 1 Connections
Operated By
Source NEAR Shoemaker - Wikipedia
Sources
1. NEAR Shoemaker - Wikipedia
Infobox, Spacecraft type
Orbiter (433 Eros)
Infobox, Launch date
February 17, 1996, 20:43:27 UTC
Body text, End of mission section
the last data signals were received from NEAR Shoemaker before it was shut down
- In Group: Asteroid Probes, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous ? Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkin
Operated By: NASA, Lead paragraph, operator
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker), renamed after its 1996 launch in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker, was a robotic space probe designed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for NASA to study the near-Earth asteroid Eros from close orbit over a period of a year.
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