![NEAR menu bar NEAR menu bar](images/near_menu.gif) |
![NEAR spacecraft NEAR spacecraft](images/nearintro.jpg) |
On February 17, 1996, Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) was the first Discovery Program spacecraft to be launched and it became the first ever to orbit and land on an asteroid.
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![Mars Pathfinder menu bar](images/pathfinder_menu.gif) |
![Mars Pathfinder spacecraft](images/pathfinderintro.jpg) |
The Mars Pathfinder mission demonstrated a low-cost method of delivering a set of science instruments and the first free-ranging rover to the surface of Mars.
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![Lunar Prospector menu bar](images/lunar_menu.gif) |
![Lunar Prospector spacecraft](images/lunarintro.jpg) |
The science data returned from Lunar Prospector has enabled scientists to create detailed maps of the gravity, magnetic properties and chemical composition of the Moon's entire surface.
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![Stardust menu bar](images/stardust_menu.gif) |
![Stardust spacecraft](images/stardustintro.jpg) |
The Stardust spacecraft collected interstellar dust and comet dust during a close encounter with Comet Wild 2 and returned the particles to Earth for analysis by scientists worldwide.
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![GENESIS menu bar](images/genesis_menu.gif) |
![GENESIS spacecraft](images/genesisintro.jpg) |
The Genesis spacecraft spent two years collecting atoms of solar wind before returning them to Earth in September 2004 for detailed analysis.
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![CONTOUR menu bar](images/contour_menu.gif) |
![CONTOUR spacecraft](images/contourintro.jpg) |
The Comet Nucleus Tour, or CONTOUR, mission was going to encounter and study two diverse comets during their periodic visits to the solar system.
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![MESSENGER menu bar](images/messengermenu.gif) |
![MESSENGER spacecraft](images/messengerintro.jpg) |
MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission is a scientific investigation of the planet Mercury.
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![DEEP IMPACT menu bar](images/deep_menu.gif) |
![DEEP IMPACT spacecraft](images/deepintro.jpg) |
The Deep Impact mission propelled a large copper projectile into the surface of a comet, creating a huge crater and yielding new information about the internal composition and structure of a comet.
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![DAWN menu bar](images/dawn_menu.gif) |
![DAWN spacecraft](images/dawnintro.jpg) |
The Dawn mission is on its way to the oldest and most massive asteroids in our solar system, to give us a glimpse of conditions and processes at the dawn of our solar system.
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![Kepler menu bar](images/keplermenu.gif) |
![Kepler spacecraft](images/keplerintro.jpg) |
Kepler will use a unique telescope to search for Earth-size habitable planets around stars beyond our solar system.
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![GRAIL menu bar GRAIL menu bar](images/grail_menu.gif) |
![Grail Grail](images/grail_intro.png) |
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission will put twin satellites into orbit around the Moon to map the Moon's interior and variations in its gravitational pull & to reconstruct its thermal history.
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