OTD In Space – February 12: NEAR-Shoemaker Lands On Asteroid Eros

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.