Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous: the science of discovery

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, the first in NASA's Discovery Program, launched on 17 February 1996. Almost 4 years later (14 February 2000) the NEAR spacecraft (NEAR Shoemaker) began the first orbital study of an asteroid, the near-Earth object 433 Eros. NEAR Shoemaker completed its mission on 12 February 2001 by landing on the asteroid and acquiring data from its surface. In addition to its detailed study of the S-type asteroid 433 Eros, NEAR Shoemaker also performed the first flyby measurements of a C-type asteroid, 253 Mathilde, en route to its target destination. This successful mission has provided a new wealth of discoveries in the field of asteroid science and has led to new lines of thought about asteroids, their formation, and their evolution.