NEAR Spacecraft

Background Information

These are "click-on" graphics of the NEAR spacecraft and its instruments. The spacecraft has a mass of 805 kg, including propellant, with a 1.7 square meter base. Because the NEAR mission is part of NASA's Discovery Program, designers of the spacecraft had to build a state-of-the-art, scientific data-gathering device on a very limited budget. Therefore, several of the components have already been proven successful because they were designed for use on previous civilian and military space missions. The 14-day launch window for NEAR opened on February 16, 1996 with the spacecraft being launched on a Delta II rocket. As it orbits the near-Earth asteroid Eros, the craft's antenna will point at the Earth while the instruments will face Eros.

Exploring the Spacecraft

Below are graphics of the NEAR spacecraft. To find out more about the spacecraft's components and their usage, click on any part of the images. Begin now by clicking on something on the images that looks interesting to you.

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Contact Steve Bowser (slbowser@umd5.umd.edu) or
Joy Maloney (jmaloney@umd5.umd.edu) for further information.