{"dataset":{"slug":"mission-classes","title":"Mission Classes","description":"The classes of small-body mission — flyby, rendezvous, orbiter, lander, impactor, and sample return.","version":"1.0.0","lastGenerated":"2026-06-29","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","entityCount":6,"sources":["nasa","esa"]},"entities":[{"id":"mission_class:flyby","name":"Flyby Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft that passes a small body once at high speed, gathering images and data during a brief encounter. Flybys are the cheapest way to reach a new target — Giotto at Halley, Deep Space 1 at Borrelly, Lucy at the Trojans.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/flyby"},{"id":"mission_class:impactor","name":"Impactor Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft (or a released projectile) that deliberately strikes a small body — to excavate subsurface material (Deep Impact) or to deflect it (DART).","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/impactor"},{"id":"mission_class:lander","name":"Lander Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft (or a deployed element) that touches down on a small body's surface — Philae on comet 67P, NEAR on Eros, and the touchdown sampling of Hayabusa and Hayabusa2.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/lander"},{"id":"mission_class:orbiter","name":"Orbiter Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft that enters orbit around a small body to map it globally over time — NEAR at Eros, Dawn at Vesta and Ceres, Rosetta at comet 67P.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/orbiter"},{"id":"mission_class:rendezvous","name":"Rendezvous Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A spacecraft that matches a small body's orbit and stays with it for an extended study, rather than flying past. Rendezvous enables detailed mapping and, often, orbiting or landing.","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/rendezvous"},{"id":"mission_class:sample-return","name":"Sample-Return Mission","type":"mission_class","domain":"science","description":"A mission that collects material from a small body and brings it back to Earth for laboratory study — Hayabusa (Itokawa), Hayabusa2 (Ryugu), OSIRIS-REx (Bennu), and Stardust (comet Wild 2).","entryPath":"/small-body-missions/type/sample-return"}]}