Editing Discovery Program (section)

=== Discovery 1 and 2 ===
[[File:Pathfinder01.jpg|thumb|Mars Pathfinder's ''Sojourner'' rover taking its Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer measurement of the [[Yogi Rock]] (1997)]]
The first two Discovery missions were [[NEAR Shoemaker|Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)]] (later called Shoemaker NEAR) and ''[[Mars Pathfinder]]''. These initial missions did not follow the same selection process that started once the program was under-way.<ref name="mars.nasa.gov">{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Mars Pathfinder Frequently Asked Questions|url=https://mars.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf/faqs_general.html#discovery|access-date=20 February 2021|website=[[NASA]]|date=December 20, 2017}}</ref> ''Mars Pathfinder'' was salvaged from the idea for a technology and EDL demonstrator from the [[Mars Environmental Survey]] program.<ref name="mars.nasa.gov"/> One of the goals of ''Pathfinder'' was to support the Mars Surveyor program.<ref name="mars.nasa.gov"/> Later missions would be selected by a more sequential process involving Announcements of Opportunity.<ref name="mars.nasa.gov"/>

In the case of NEAR, a working group for the program recommended that the first mission should be to a [[near-Earth asteroid]].<ref name="techdigest.jhuapl.edu">{{cite web |url=http://techdigest.jhuapl.edu/TD/td2301/farquhar.pdf |title=02-0483D Farquhar.Indd |access-date=2018-04-28 |archive-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226155236/http://techdigest.jhuapl.edu/TD/td2301/farquhar.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> A series of proposals limited to missions to a near-Earth asteroid missions were reviewed in 1991.<ref name="techdigest.jhuapl.edu"/> What would be the NEAR spacecraft mission was formally selected in December 1993, after which began a 2-year development period prior to launch.<ref name="techdigest.jhuapl.edu"/> NEAR was launched on February 15, 1996, and arrived to orbit [[433 Eros|asteroid Eros]] on February 14, 2000.<ref name="techdigest.jhuapl.edu"/> ''[[Mars Pathfinder]]'' launched on December 4, 1996, and landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, bringing along with it the first NASA Mars rover, ''Sojourner''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/history/marspath.html |title=NASA Glenn Participation in Mars Pathfinder Mission &#124; NASA |publisher=Nasa.gov |date=1996-12-04 |access-date=2018-04-28}}</ref>