NEAR (Discovery 1)

Launch data: Designation  96008A Launch date  17 Feb 1996 - 20:43:27 UT Launch site  CC, LC-17B Launch vehicle  Delta-7925-8 Mission  Interpl. probe, Eros orbiter & lander Heliocentric orbit Perihelion / Aphelion   Incl. to ecliptic   ° Period   min

Spacecraft data: Prime contractor  Applied Physics Lab (APL) of Johns Hopkins University Operator   Applied Physics Lab (APL) of Johns Hopkins University Platform   Mass at launch  805 kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension   Solar array   Stabilization   DC power   Design lifetime

NEAR spacecraft inside its Delta II rocket

Mission details:

• The NEAR space probe was launched on Feb 17, 1996 at 2043 UTC. The first of NASA's Discovery planetary series, NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) is built by the Applied Physics Lab (APL) of Johns Hopkins University.
• The 805 kg spacecraft carries a liquid propellant engine with a 100-lb thruster, a multispectral imaging camera, an X/gamma-ray spectrometer to study asteroid composition, a near infrared spectrograph, a magnetometer, a laser rangefinder, and an X-band communications transponder used for tracking.
• The Delta second stage placed NEAR in a 185 km parking orbit at 2052 UTC; it ignited again at 2105 and burned for 3 minutes. At 2109 the PAM-D third stage solid motor ignited; at around 2111 the PAM-D separated and NEAR began to deploy its solar panels. The Canberra tracking station confirmed successful launch at around 2200 UTC. NEAR was boosted to a 0.99 x 2.18 AU x 0.8 deg orbit around the Sun.
• On Jun 27, 1997 NEAR made a 1200 km flyby of minor planet (253) Mathilde, the first C-type minor planet to be visited by a probe.
• A burn on 1997 Jul 3 put NEAR in a 0.95 x 2.18 AU x 0.5 deg orbit on track for an Earth flyby 532 km over Iran on 1998 Jan 23 at 0723 URC. This lowered the orbit to 0.99 x 1.77 AU and increased ecliptic inclination to 10 degrees.
• NEAR flew past (433) Eros on 1998 Dec 23, after an aborted rendezvous burn.
• The NEAR space probe ran into trouble on Dec 20, 1998 at 2200 UTC when controllers lost contact during an engine burn. A signal was picked up early on Dec 22, and it appears that a main engine malfunction was followed by a software error putting the craft into a tumble. NEAR made a flyby of minor planet (433) Eros at 4100 km at 1843 UTC on Dec 23.
• The NEAR space probe entered orbit around (433) Eros on Feb 14, 2000. Orbit insertion was at 1534 UTC into an approx. 323 x 370 km orbit (relative to the center of Eros) with a period of about 27 days. NEAR is controlled from APL in Maryland.
• On Apr 2, 2000 at 0200 UTC, the NEAR-Shoemaker probe moved into a 100 x 200 km orbit around (433) Eros, and passed during the month in its operational 50-km-radius polar orbit.
• The NEAR-Shoemaker probe has completed its descent to the surface of minor planet (433) Eros. The deorbit burn, at an altitude of 26 km above the surface, was at 1515 UTC on 14 Feb 2011 into a 7.5 km x 35 km orbit relative to Eros center, with periapsis below the surface. Touchdown was at 1944:35 UTC at location 35S 279W. Signals continued to be received from NEAR hours after the landing, confirming that it survived the 2m/s impact.
  Light travel time from Eros at the time of landing was 17 minutes 35 seconds, so the touchdown signal was received on Earth at 2002:10 UTC, and this has been incorrectly reported as the actual landing time.
• A more accurate time for NEAR's landing on (433) Eros is 1944:17 UTC on Feb 12, 2001 with signal receipt on Earth at 2001:52 UTC.

This is the last image of asteroid 433 Eros received from NEAR Shoemaker. Taken from a range of 120 m (394 feet), it measures 6 m (20 feet) across. What we can see of the rock at the top of image measures 4 m (12 feet) across. The streaky lines at the bottom indicate loss of signal as the spacecraft touched down on the asteroid during transmission of this image.
This was the first time a spacecraft landed on an asteroid.