Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NEAR Spacecraft Survives Landing on Asteroid Eros

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for February 13, 2001 is “NEAR Spacecraft Survives Landing on Asteroid Eros,” an image. It is credited to Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA. The original explanation runs about 129 words.

NEAR Spacecraft Survives Landing on Asteroid Eros
Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Yesterday NEAR-Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid and send signals back from its surface. Since the robot spacecraft was not designed for such a contingency , the success of the landing on asteroid 433 Eros was not assured.”

— APOD editors, February 13, 2001

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
February 13, 2001
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: NEAR Project , JHU APL , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 129 words

All of February 2001 → · 2001 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Asteroids

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: February 13 in other years

On Amazon

Popular picks for space fans

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.