Who built the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft?
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory built the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft in the mid-1990s. This robotic probe was designed to study asteroid 433 Eros from close orbit over a period of one year.
Questions about NEAR Shoemaker
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When did the NEAR Shoemaker launch into space?
NEAR launched aboard a Delta 7925-8 rocket on the 17th of February 1996. The spacecraft entered hibernation mode during most of its cruise phase until approaching asteroid 253 Mathilde.
What happened during the NEAR Shoemaker anomaly on the 20th of December 1998?
A critical anomaly struck on the 20th of December 1998, when the first scheduled rendezvous burn sequence aborted immediately and the spacecraft began tumbling while thrusters fired thousands of times. Engineers lost contact with mission control for over 24 hours as propellant reserves dropped to zero.
How much did the total mission expenses reach by completion?
Development costs reached $124.9 million while total mission expenses climbed to $224 million by completion. The mission marked the first time NASA's Discovery Program sent a small-scale spacecraft into space for less than $150 million.
Where did the NEAR Shoemaker land on the 12th of February 2001?
NEAR Shoemaker executed controlled descent ending with touchdown just south of saddle-shaped feature Himeros on the 12th of February 2001. Controllers expected damage but found the spacecraft undamaged at impact speed between 1.5 and 1.8 meters per second.