Small-body mission · NASA / JHU APL
NEAR Shoemaker
NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission — the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid (433 Eros) and, in an unplanned finale, the first to soft-land on one. It mapped Eros for a year before its controlled descent in 2001.
Imagery
NEAR Shoemaker Path
2001
NASA/JPL/JHUAPL · NASA media (public domain)
This is the small-body-missions view of NEAR Shoemaker. See its main mission page for the full profile.
Targets & sample
Target bodies:433 Eros
Also:Asteroid 433 Eros (orbit + landing); asteroid 253 Mathilde (flyby, 1997)
Mission & science
- Goals
- Orbit a near-Earth asteroid and characterise its shape, composition, and interior.
- Engineering milestones
- First asteroid orbiter (2000); first asteroid soft landing (2001).
- Science discoveries
- Eros is a consolidated, undifferentiated body — not a rubble pile — with a regolith-covered surface.
- Outcome
- Complete success; the first mission of NASA's Discovery Program.
Knowledge connections
- Visited433 Eros
- Member of groupOrbiter Mission
- Member of groupRendezvous Mission
- Member of groupLander Mission
- Member of groupFlyby Mission
- Launched byDelta II
- Operated byNASA
- Orbited433 Eros
- Landed on433 Eros
- Associated withProximity Operations
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- NASA JPLJet Propulsion Laboratory / Solar System Dynamics
Orbital data, ephemerides, and small-body parameters for planets, asteroids, and comets.