This probe was not designed to land... it still survived.

In February 2001, NEAR Shoemaker already studied the asteroid Eros from its orbit. His mission could end without ever touching the ground. The team is attempting a controlled descent. There is one big detail: the craft was not designed as a lander.

The maneuvers gradually slow down the probe and its cameras photograph the surface closer and closer. On February 12, she came into contact with Eros. This first arrival of a craft on an asteroid does not end with the immediate silence that could have been feared.

NEAR continues to transmit data for about two weeks, thanks to its gamma spectrometer. The last contact took place on 28 February. The result does not prove that any satellite can land without proper equipment: low gravity and a carefully prepared descent count. It shows that a mission that has come to an end can still offer an observation post that no one had foreseen in its initial design.