433 Eros Timeline of Events

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433 Eros

433 Eros is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 1898, and the first asteroid to be orbited by a probe . It is an S-type asteroid approximately 34.4×11.2×11.2 km in size, the second-largest NEA after 1036 Ganymed, and belongs to the Amor group.Eros is a Mars-crosser asteroid, the first known to come within the orbit of Mars...

Timeline of Events

1996

2.17.1996

NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.

2000

2.14.2000

The spacecraft ''NEAR Shoemaker'' enters orbit around asteroid 433 Eros, the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

2001

2.12.2001

NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.