strogeologist Gene Shoemaker always said

that he wanted to travel to Eros, lasso it,

and hit it with a rock hammer. Eros, the
size of a small city, is one of the largest of the asteroidal
and cometary remnants from the solar system’s birth that
can venture near Earth. Shoemaker, co-discoverer of comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9 which famously crashed into Jupiter in
1994, thought that Eros might be like a road cut in the
heavens: it might reveal rock strata from the interior of the
main-belt asteroid from which Eros fragmented long ago.
Launched from Cape Canaveral in early 1996, the NEAR
Shoemaker spacecraft accomplished Shoemaker’s dream, at
least metaphorically, as it orbited the little world and plied
its surface with beams from half-a-dozen remote-sensing
instruments.

For planetary scientists, like the late Gene Shoemaker, NEAR’s

study of Eros opened a window to our distant past, when the
Earth and other planets were forming by the gathering together
of bodies like Eros. NEAR’s explorations, the first-ever dedicated
spacecraft investigations of an asteroid, are helping researchers
peer back to those formative epochs of solar system history and
learn more about the precursors that formed a habitable world,
like our own planet Earth.
Clark R. Chapman
The Johns Hopkins University

Planetary Scientist
Applied Physics Laboratory
11100 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, MD 20723-6099

As the first mission launched in the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA)
Discovery Program, the Near Earth Asteroid
Rendezvous (NEAR) mission set the stage
for asteroidal exploration and formed a base of
knowledge that will be the framework for future
missions. The NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft was
designed and built by The Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory, which managed the
mission for NASA.
 M i s s i o n M i l e s t o n e s
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NEAR Shoemaker
launches from
Cape Canaveral on a
Delta-2 rocket.

NEAR Shoemaker
comes within 753 miles
(1,212 kilometers)

An Earth swingby puts

NEAR Shoemaker on its
approach path for an
encounter with asteroid
433 Eros. At its closest
point the spacecraft passes

kilometers) above Ahvaz

in southwestern Iran.
of asteroid
253 Mathilde.

about 335 miles (540

NEAR Shoemaker aborts

main-engine burn.
Detecting acceleration
that exceeded built-in
limits, the spacecraft
defaults to a "safe"
hold. Contact regained
27 hours later. NEAR is
the first deep-space
mission to have recovered
from an anomaly
of this magnitude.

NEAR Shoemaker comes

within 2,378 miles
(3,827 kilometers)
of Eros at
2,158 miles/hour
(965 meters/second).

Large bipropellant
thruster burn closes
the gap between NEAR
Shoemaker‘s orbital speed
and that of Eros.

Orbit insertion around

Eros. The yearlong
encounter begins.

NEAR Shoemaker
touches down on Eros
and begins to send data
from the surface.

Mission ends.
Science Objectives surface as small as half an inch (about 1 NEAR Science Team
centimeter) in diameter from a range of Leaders
The NEAR mission was the first comprehensive study of 394 feet (120 meters), a Near-Infrared Multispectral Imager/Near-
the physical geology, composition and geophysics of an Spectrometer, an X-Ray/Gamma-Ray Infrared Spectrometer:
asteroid. The mission had three main scientific goals: Spectrometer, a Laser Rangefinder, a Joseph Veverka,
• Determine the physical and geological properties of a Magnetometer and a Radio Science Cornell University
near-Earth asteroid (NEA); experiment. X-Ray/Gamma-Ray
• Clarify relationships between asteroids, comets and Spectrometer: Jacob
meteorites; and Trombka, NASA/Goddard
• Further our understanding of how and under what
Exploring Eros Space Flight Center
conditions the planets formed and evolved. NEAR’s target was 433 Eros, the first NEA Magnetometer: Mario
discovered and one of only three known Acuña, NASA/Goddard
NEAs with diameters wider than 6 miles Space Flight Center
Spacecraft (10 kilometers). Laser Rangefinder: Maria
NEAR Shoemaker was the first solar-powered spacecraft to Zuber, MIT and
Before descending to the surface in Goddard Space
fly beyond the orbit of Mars — a technical innovation in February 2001, NEAR Shoemaker traveled Artist’s concept of the NEAR Shoemaker touchdown on Eros
Flight Center
spacecraft design. It had the capability to operate as far as at various distances around Eros, passing Radio Science: Donald
203 million miles (327 million kilometers) from the Sun. as close as 2 miles from the surface and orbiting farther than 200 Yeomans, NASA/Jet
Scheduling drove the development of the spacecraft; miles from the asteroid’s center. Its main scientific orbits ranged Propulsion Laboratory
simplicity was achieved by fixing and body-mounting three from 22 miles (35 kilometers) to 124 miles (200 kilometers).
major components — instruments, solar panels and high- Touchdown!
gain antenna. Although this requirement increased the NASA NEAR Mission Management The NEAR team devised a spectacular finish to the yearlong
complexity of spacecraft operations, it was critical in Associate Administrator for Space Science: Edward Weiler orbit at Eros — the first-ever spacecraft landing on an
accomplishing the extremely tight schedule. Program Executive: Paul Hertz asteroid. On February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker made a
Program Scientist: Thomas Morgan gentle, picture-perfect landing on the tips of two solar
In March 2000 the satellite was renamed NEAR Shoemaker to
Discovery Program Manager: David Jarrett panels and the bottom edge of its body. Then, to much
honor Dr. Eugene M. Shoemaker, the legendary geologist who
influenced decades of research on the role of asteroids and amazement, the craft continued to operate and send signals
APL NEAR Project Management
comets in shaping the planets. back to Earth. For two weeks the team gathered the first
Space Department Head: Stamatios Krimigis
scientific readings from an asteroid’s surface,
Project Manager: Thomas Coughlin
adding to the legacy of a mission that
Instruments Project Scientist: Andrew Cheng
collected 10 times more data than planned.
Mission Director: Robert Farquhar
NEAR Shoemaker’s instrument payload consisted of a
Multispectral Imager fitted with a charge-coupled device For the most up-to-date information,
(CCD) imaging detector that photographed details on Eros’ please check the NEAR Web site:
http://near.jhuapl.edu
01-0691FS