On February 12, 2001, NASA landed a spacecraft on an asteroid! After a five-year mission, the NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros.
This was the first soft landing on an asteroid, and it was supposed to be the last thing NEAR-Shoemaker ever did. But NASA was surprised to find that the spacecraft was still intact and totally fine after hitting the asteroid. Instead of ending the mission as planned, NASA spent a couple more weeks studying Eros from up close. Throughout its mission, it studied things like the asteroid's composition and magnetic field, but it also took the first close-up asteroid pictures ever taken by a spacecraft in orbit.
This was the first soft landing on an asteroid, and it was supposed to be the last thing NEAR-Shoemaker ever did. But NASA was surprised to find that the spacecraft was still intact and totally fine after hitting the asteroid. Instead of ending the mission as planned, NASA spent a couple more weeks studying Eros from up close. Throughout its mission, it studied things like the asteroid's composition and magnetic field, but it also took the first close-up asteroid pictures ever taken by a spacecraft in orbit.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04On February 12, 2001, NASA landed a spacecraft on an asteroid.
00:08After a five-year mission, the Near Shoemaker spacecraft touched down
00:12on the near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros. This was the first
00:16soft landing on an asteroid, and it was supposed to be the last thing Near Shoemaker ever did.
00:20But NASA was surprised to find that the spacecraft was still intact and
00:24totally fine after hitting the asteroid. Instead of ending the mission as planned,
00:28NASA spent a couple more weeks studying Eros from up close.
00:32Throughout its mission, it studied things like the asteroid's composition and magnetic field,
00:36but it also took the first close-up asteroid pictures ever taken by a spacecraft in orbit.
00:40And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:44NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology