And of course @JHUAPL orbital insertion by NEAR Shoemaker around Eros occurred on 14 February 2000 - Valentine's Day - my favorite human Bob Farquhar had this specific date planned out well in advance.https://twitter.com/JHUAPL/status/1096218535674761217 …
NEAR, far, wherever you are...
Eros was one of the first #asteroids visited by a spacecraft - the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) - the first one orbited (Feb 2000), and the first one soft-landed on (Feb 2001). The NEAR mission was managed for @NASA by #JHUAPL! pic.twitter.com/mcLyq9kXow
Eros was one of the first 