Launched February 17, 1996, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous - Shoemaker (NEAR Shoemaker) entered orbit around the asteroid Eros February 14, 2000. It is the first time a spacecraft had achieved orbit around an asteroid.
A year later, on February 12, 2001, NEAR Shoemaker touched down on the surface of Eros. It transmitted data until February 28 when the last signals were received. NASA tried to communicate with the spacecraft on December 10, 2002 but was unsuccessful.
No comments:
Post a Comment