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Small-Body Targets of Spacecraft Missions

Over the years, NASA and other space agencies have targeted asteroids and comets in their spacecraft missions. Some missions were designed specifically to learn more about physical characteristics of asteroids and comets while others were able to view asteroids on their way to other planetary destinations (such as JPL’s Galileo mission).

The following table shows small-bodies that have been, or will be, the target of selected spacecraft missions. Each row represents a target and its corresponding mission. Upcoming missions are shown with a palegreen background, current missions are shown with a lightyellow background, and past missions are shown with a lightgray background.

The table is sorted, by default, in reverse chronological order by launch date. Small-bodies that are targets of more than one mission have separate rows for each mission. Each small-body is hyperlinked to its SBDB Lookup page and mission names are hyperlinked to their mission web-page (where available).

id  
Target Body
Mission
Type
Mission
Arrival
Mission
Arrival (unix)
Mission
Name
Mission
Launch
Mission
Launch (unix)
Mission
Status
a0065803 65803 Didymos (1996 GT) impact 2022-Sep-26 1664175600 DART 2021-Nov-24 1637740800 complete
a0152830 152830 Dinkinesh (1999 VD57) fly-by 2023-Nov-01 1698822000 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0052246 52246 Donaldjohanson (1981 EQ5) fly-by 2025-Apr-20 1745132400 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0021900 21900 Orus (1999 VQ10) fly-by 2028-Nov-11 1857542400 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0015094 15094 Polymele (1999 WB2) fly-by 2027-Sep-15 1820991600 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0011351 11351 Leucus (1997 TS25) fly-by 2028-Apr-18 1839654000 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0003548 3548 Eurybates (1973 SO) fly-by 2027-Aug-12 1818054000 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0000617 617 Patroclus (A906 UL) fly-by 2033-Mar-02 1993363200 Lucy 2021-Oct-16 1634367600 active
a0486958 486958 Arrokoth (2014 MU69) fly-by 2019-Jan-01 1546329600 New Horizons 2006-Jan-19 1137657600 complete
a0004179 4179 Toutatis (1989 AC) fly-by 2012-Dec-13 1355385600 Chang'e 2 2010-Oct-01 1285916400 complete
a0099942 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4) orbiter 2029-Apr-13 1870758000 OSIRIS-APEX 2016-Sep-08 1473318000 active
a0101955 101955 Bennu (1999 RQ36) sample-return 2018-Dec-31 1546243200 OSIRIS-REx 2016-Sep-08 1473318000 active
bJ98K26Y (1998 KY26) fly-by 2031-Jul 1940655600 Hayabusa2 Extended Mission 2014-Dec-03 1417593600 active
a0098943 98943 (2001 CC21) fly-by 2026-Jul-04 1783148400 Hayabusa2 Extended Mission 2014-Dec-03 1417593600 active
a0162173 162173 Ryugu (1999 JU3) sample-return 2018-Jun-27 1530082800 Hayabusa2 2014-Dec-03 1417593600 complete
a0000001 1 Ceres orbiter 2015-Mar-06 1425628800 Dawn 2007-Sep-27 1190876400 complete
a0000004 4 Vesta orbiter 2011-Jul-16 1310799600 Dawn 2007-Sep-27 1190876400 complete
c00067_0 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko orbiter/landing 2014-Aug-06 1407308400 Rosetta 2004-Mar-02 1078214400 complete
a0000021 21 Lutetia fly-by 2010-Jul-10 1278745200 Rosetta 2004-Mar-02 1078214400 complete
a0002867 2867 Steins (1969 VC) fly-by 2008-Sep-05 1220598000 Rosetta 2004-Mar-02 1078214400 complete
a0025143 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) sample-return 2005-Sep-12 1126508400 Hayabusa (MUSES-C) 2003-May-09 1052463600 complete
c00103_0 103P/Hartley 2 fly-by 2010-Nov-04 1288854000 EPOXI 2005-Jan-12 1105516800 complete
c00009_0 9P/Tempel 1 fly-by 2011-Feb-15 1297756800 Stardust-NExT 1999-Feb-06 918288000 complete
c00009_0 9P/Tempel 1 impact/fly-by 2005-Jul-04 1120460400 Deep Impact 2005-Jan-12 1105516800 complete
c00081_0 81P/Wild 2 sample-return 2004-Jan-02 1073030400 Stardust 1999-Feb-06 918288000 complete
a0005535 5535 Annefrank (1942 EM) fly-by 2002-Nov-02 1036224000 Stardust 1999-Feb-06 918288000 complete
c00019_0 19P/Borrelly fly-by 2001-Sep-22 1001142000 Deep Space 1 1998-Oct-24 909212400 complete
a0009969 9969 Braille (1992 KD) fly-by 1999-Jul-29 933231600 Deep Space 1 1998-Oct-24 909212400 complete
a0000443 433 Eros (A898 PA) orbiter/landing 2000-Feb-14 950515200 NEAR 1996-Feb-17 824544000 complete
a0000253 253 Mathilde fly-by 1997-Jun-27 867394800 NEAR 1996-Feb-17 824544000 complete
a0000243 243 Ida fly-by 1993-Aug-28 746521200 Galileo 1989-Oct-18 624697200 complete
a0000951 951 Gaspra (A916 OJ) fly-by 1991-Oct-29 688723200 Galileo 1989-Oct-18 624697200 complete
c00026_0 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup fly-by 1992-Jul-10 710751600 Giotto 1985-Jul-02 489135600 complete
c00001_0 1P/Halley fly-by 1986-Mar-14 511171200 Giotto 1985-Jul-02 489135600 complete
c00001_0 1P/Halley fly-by 1986-Mar-11 510912000 Sakigake 1985-Jan-07 473932800 complete
c00001_0 1P/Halley fly-by 1986-Mar-09 510739200 Vega 2 1984-Dec-21 472464000 complete
c00001_0 1P/Halley fly-by 1986-Mar-08 510652800 Suisei 1985-Aug-18 493196400 complete
c00001_0 1P/Halley fly-by 1986-Mar-06 510480000 Vega 1 1984-Dec-15 471945600 complete
c00021_0 21P/Giacobini-Zinner fly-by 1985-Sep-11 495270000 ISEE 3/ICE 1978-Aug-12 271753200 complete