NEAR Shoemaker
NEAR Shoemaker was the APL-built NASA spacecraft launched on February 17, 1996. It flew past Mathilde and Earth, recovered from a missed Eros insertion, became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, was renamed for Eugene Shoemaker, and then became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
Identity
- Aliases
- NEARNear Earth Asteroid Rendezvous
- Name
- NEAR Shoemaker
- Status
- retired
Details
- Description
- NEAR Shoemaker was the APL-built NASA spacecraft launched on February 17, 1996. It flew past Mathilde and Earth, recovered from a missed Eros insertion, became the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid, was renamed for Eugene Shoemaker, and then became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
- First Flight Date
- 1996-02-17
- Manufacturer
- Operator
- Vehicle Family
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 29, 2026 at 09:46:26 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 22, 2026 at 03:56:33 UTC
- Image
- Download
Other
- Last Flight Date
- 1996-02-17
- Vehicle Code
- NEAR