NEAR - USA Asteroid Orbiter - 805 Kg was launched on February 17, 1996. After its launch, it was renamed NEAR Shoemaker in honor of planetary scientist Eugene M. Shoemaker.
The main scientific purpose of NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) was to orbit near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros.
The spacecraft studied the asteroid for one year after entering orbit in February 1999. NEAR imaged Comet Hyakutake in March 1996 and flew within 1,200 kilometers of asteroid 253 Mathilde on June 27, 1997.
On July 3, 1997 NEAR executed the first major deep space maneuver, a two-part burn of the main 450 N thruster. The Earth gravity assist swingby occurred on January 23, 1998 at 7:23 UT. The closest approach was 540 km, altering the orbital inclination from 0.5 to 10.2 degrees, and the aphelion distance from 2.17 to 1.77 AU, nearly matching those of Eros. Instrumentation was active at this time.
This was the first of NASA's Discovery missions.
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