NEAR

The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission to the near-earth asteroid 433 Eros was launched in Feb. 1996 and carried out Eros orbital operations from Feb. 2000 through Feb. 2001.  It acquired the first comprehensive, spatially resolved measurements of the geomorphology, reflectance spectral properties, and shape of an asteroid, and X-ray and gamma-ray spectral measurements of elemental abundances from orbit and the surface. The ambient magnetic field in the vicinity of Eros was also measured.  On the way to Eros, the spacecraft also performed a flyby of the asteroid 253 Mathilde in June 1997, obtaining image data and a mass determination.

NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS

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GAMMA RAY SPECTROMETER for NEAR

MAGNETOMETER for NEAR

MULTI-SPECTRAL IMAGER for NEAR

NEAR INFRARED SPECTROMETER for NEAR

NEAR LASER RANGEFINDER for NEAR

RADIO SCIENCE SUBSYSTEM for NEAR

XRAY SPECTROMETER for NEAR

253 Mathilde

433 Eros

C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)

Moon

NAIF ID 399

Earth

Mathilde is a C-type asteroid that was discovered by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at Vienna Observatory on 12 November 1885.  It has dimensions 66 × 48 × 46 km, and an orbit semi-major axis distance of 2.6484 AU and eccentricity of 0.265.  Mathilda has a notably slow rate of rotation, requiring 17.4 days to complete a 360° revolution about its axis.  Mathilde was visited by the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft during June 1997, on its way to asteroid 433 Eros, passing within about 1200 km of the asteroid at a relative speed of 9.93 km/s.

433 Eros is an S-type asteroid that was discovered on Aug. 13, 1898 by Gustav Witt, director of the Urania observatory in Berlin, and independently on the same day by Auguste H.P. Charlois at Nice, France. It is the largest of the near-Earth asteroids, with dimensions 34.4 × 11.2 × 11.2 km, and an orbit semi-major axis distance of 1.4576 AU (a member of the Amor group).  The NEAR spacecraft moved into orbit around Eros on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2000.  After nearly a year in orbit, during which time the spacecraft was renamed "NEAR Shoemaker" in honor of astrogeology pioneer Eugene Shoemaker, the mission carried out humanity's first asteroid landing on Feb. 12, 2001.

C/1996 B2 Hyakutake is a long-period comet. Before its most recent passage through the Solar System, its orbital period was about 17,000 years, but the gravitational perturbation of the giant planets has increased this period to 70,000 years. It was the first comet that had X-ray emission.

Our moon is the fifth largest of the 190+ moons orbiting planets in our solar system.  Earth's only natural satellite is simply called "the Moon" because people didn't know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610.  It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years. The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. According to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago.  Earth's gravity interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon, Earth's only natural satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.26 days, a period known as an Earth year.   Earth's axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on Earth.  The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon causes tides, stabilizes Earth's orientation on its axis and gradually slows its rotation.  Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest and most massive of the four terrestrial planets.

Target Derived Data

Higher-order data products related to the target of observation

Primary

433 Eros

Secondary

253 Mathilde

C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)