NEAR Shoemaker

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Artist's impression of the NEAR probe

NEAR Shoemaker was a US spacecraft from NASA that was launched in 1996 to explore the asteroid Eros and landed on it in 2001 to complete the exploration. NEAR is the abbreviation for N ear E arth A steroid R endezvous ( German  rendezvous with near-earth asteroids ); The probe was given the additional name "Shoemaker" in 2000, after the death of the leading geologist and planetologist Eugene Shoemaker .

Measuring instruments

The 805 kg mass spacecraft was the first to the under Discovery Program of NASA launched. In addition to cameras, she carried a magnetometer , X-ray and gamma-ray spectrometer , infrared sensors and a laser range finder as instruments . Germany was involved as an international partner .

course

Start of Near with a Delta II 7925-8
Photo of (253) Mathilde
NEAR image of the asteroid Eros

NEAR left Earth on February 17, 1996 on a Delta II rocket. As early as March 1996, the probe was able to send some images of Comet Hyakutake from a great distance. A flyby of the asteroid (253) Mathilde took place on June 27, 1997. The distance was 1,200 km. The probe sent some images. The injection into an orbit around the asteroid Eros initially failed at the turn of the year 1998/1999.

One year later than planned, on February 14, 2000, NEAR reached the desired orbit around Eros. The asteroid was explored in depth over the following months. The orbit was lowered from 350 km down to 50 km. After a year in orbit around Eros, the probe successfully landed on the asteroid's surface on February 12, 2001. This was also a novelty in space travel, as it was not designed for a landing. The probe transmitted data from the surface of the asteroid until February 28, 2001, after which contact was broken off because the solar panels were no longer pointing in the direction of the sun. Another attempt at contact in March of the same year was unsuccessful.

Result

NASA's Discovery program was partly designed to bring technological and scientific innovations. This was achieved with NEAR. The probe was the first asteroid orbiter and also carried out the first landing on an asteroid - without the corresponding landing systems having been installed. For a probe as part of the Discovery program, it was relatively generously equipped with instruments (six experiments and sensors) and could at least explore Eros more precisely than any previous asteroids.

Missions of further probes to the asteroids

See also

literature

  • Jim Bell, Jacqueline Mitton: Asteroid rendezvous - NEAR Shoemaker's adventures at Eros. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-81360-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b heise online: 15 years ago: NEAR Shoemaker is the first probe to land on an asteroid. In: heise online. Retrieved on February 13, 2016 (German).
  2. In Depth | NEAR Shoemaker - Solar System Exploration: NASA Science . In: Solar System Exploration: NASA Science . ( nasa.gov [accessed November 11, 2018]).