Near Earth Asteroid Prospector

The Near Earth Asteroid Prospector, or NEAP, was a concept for a small innovative commercial spacecraft mission by the private company SpaceDev.[1] The goal was to fly NEAP to a targeted near-Earth asteroid residing beyond Earth's orbit, successfully land one or more scientific instruments on the asteroid, communicate the scientific data to Earth, and claim the asteroid as private property. The project ran into fundraising difficulties. One of the most likely candidates was 4660 Nereus.[2][3]

Near Earth Asteroid Prospector
OperatorSpaceDev
Near-Earth asteroid lander
 

See also

References
  1. Ridenoure, Rex. "NEAP: 15 years later". The Space Review. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  2. "SpaceDev Sells Ride to Asteroid". nasa jpl. July 20, 1999.
  3. "NEAP". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
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