Feb 17 1996
From The Space Library
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(New page: NASA launched a space probe aimed at a faraway asteroid only about twice the size of Manhattan Island. Scientists intended the probe, called Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous ([[Near Eart...)
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NASA launched a space probe aimed at a faraway asteroid only about twice the size of Manhattan Island. Scientists intended the probe, called Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), to reach the asteroid in three years. If the mission succeeded, NASA planned for the probe to orbit the asteroid for nearly one year before eventually crashing into the rock. Astronomers hoped that the data gathered during the exercise would provide new information about the formation of the universe. With a budget of US$120 million, the probe mission was a relatively cheap foray into the gathering of space data. The probe's restricted budget was necessary because the new Discovery program had cost US$150 million, and NASA had a three-year cap on the development of new spacecraft. Johns Hopkins University successfully engineered the craft within the stringent guidelines.
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