The Spacecraft That Wasn't Designed To Land, But Did

Many space missions take billions of dollars and decades of work to get develop, but 25 years ago this spacecraft delivered stunning results on a shoestring budget and a minimal development timeline.

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[Kanitoxx]

this reminds me of SOHO, one of those missions that were supposed to last for 2 years, but it's been 25 years and still kicking!

[MrDestroys]

This reminded me of that mars rover that stayed on mars i think 20 years more than originally intended, it is really cool how some robots we build can suprise as with what they can do as if they are their own people

[ProfessorJayTee]

I just did this in Kerbal Space Program, accidentally. My probe had power to land, but no landing gear on the probe. To my surprise, it also landed perfectly safe on the solar panels, facing the sunshine.

[nicholashylton]

Remember that mission. It just kept going and going, and landing it on the surface was like the cherry on top!

[JosephGallagher]

I kept jiggling in excitement with every additional feat NEAR kept making haha

[krist]

This is amazing!! Just think of this, as we're watching this video, this spacecraft is still sitting on the surface of that asteroid!! It's amazing when you think about i!!

[pseudotasuki]

The discovery missions were a fantastic idea. With launch prices dropping, NASA should take the concept a step further by developing a range of robotic probes that can be produced continuously with an assortment of instruments to choose from.

[warrenfrank]

JHU/APL often doesn't get credit for the many space missions that it designs, builds and launches. I had the privileged to work on the GNC system for NEAR back in the mid 1990s at APL. Many of us put in countless hours of overtime to build, test and launch this spacecraft in the required launch window. Whenever I see something about this mission, I feel a sense of pride that my software in out there on that asteroid.

[jaysun]

The tragedy at Eros station will never be forgotten!

[ShlokParab]

When a low budget smartphone does a lot better than flagship:

[maryrabelo.s.wagner]

Some sort of documentary about such an impressive mission should already be made.

[RyanEmmett]

What an interesting mission, I'd never heard of it!

[shadowmil]

As a kerbal player, I don't think I find this as impressive as I should.

[bevinboulder]

I'm sure that this probe was covered in the news at that time, but I certainly don't remember it. Thanks for the reminder!

[browerkyle]

This looks like my probes in Kerbal Space Program!

[veggiet]

This reminds me of a certain Star Trek movie

[cleyfaye]

Doing random stuff on the way, having parts busting out, and landing without landing gear. Was that designed by a KSP player?

[DrRandomStranger]

Reminds me of my first KSP missions. No legs, no problem!

[lorenzoblum]

Shoemaker stepped on it.
Eros got a kick out of it.

[Larixlaricina]

"good science, bonus science, and SURPRISE science!"