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The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.
NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) was a mission to rendezvous and orbit around an near earth asteroid (433 Eros). On the cruise to Eros, it flew by asteroid 253 Mathilde on 27 Jun 1997 and flew by earth on 23 January 1998. After failing to insert itself into Eros' orbit in January 1999, NEAR finally inserted itself into orbit around the asteroid on the second try on 14 February 2000. Initially in a 323 km × 370 km orbit, it lowered its altitude during observation. After reaching orbit, NEAR was renamed NEAR-Shoemaker.
Height 38.20 Meters
Max Stages 4
Mass To GTO 0 kg
Liftoff Thrust 4000 kN
Diameter 2.44 Meters
Mass To LEO 0 kg
Liftoff Mass 220 Tonnes
Launch Success 2
Consecutive Success 2
Maiden Flight 1994-02-19
Launch Failures 0
The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office. The cost of each mission is capped at a lower level than missions from NASA's New Frontiers or Flagship Programs. As a result, Discovery missions tend to be more focused on a specific scientific goal rather than serving a general purpose.