It was launched aboard a Delta rocket on October 24, 1998, and was part of NASA's New Millennium program.
It was launched aboard a Delta rocket on October 24, 1998, and was part of NASA's New Millennium program. It achieved both of its secondary goals, flybys of the comet Borrelly and the asteroid Braille, which it passed a mere 26 kilometers from, the closest flyby of any object ever. Its primary mission was to test 12 new technologies designed to decrease both the costs and risks of unmanned space exploration, including an auto-navigational system, software for self-repair, and an ion thruster, which increased the specific impulse by 10 times over chemical propulsion systems. FTP, name this spacecraft, which was retired on December 18, 2001, after its meeting with Borrelly.
It was launched aboard a Delta rocket on October 24, 1998, and was part of NASA's New Millennium program.
Deep Space 1