NEAR Shoemaker: first orbit and landing at an asteroid (Eros)
NEAR Shoemaker: primera órbita y aterrizaje en un asteroide (Eros)
- Date
- 12 de febrero de 2001 · confidence high
- Place
- Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, United States
- Credited to
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA
- Field
- Movement
What was discovered
The probe entered orbit around asteroid Eros in 2000 and, after a year of study, landed on its surface although it had not been designed to. It was the first craft to orbit and touch down on an asteroid.
It was the first mission of NASA's Discovery programme to orbit a body. In 1997 it had flown past asteroid Mathilde.
What it led to
- a detailed map of Eros, a 34 km asteroid
- the Hayabusa, Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx missions
- proof that one could manoeuvre close to a body with very little gravity