But before the probe reached Jupiter, it made several pit stops, including to the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. You may like 'Right now, we are in what has to be a Golden Age of asteroid exploration.' ...

The Galileo spacecraft captured this view of asteroid 951 Gaspra in 1991. It was the first time a spacecraft made a close flyby of an asteroid.

NASA’s Galileo probe previously surveyed asteroids Gaspra and Ida a decade earlier on its way to far-off Jupiter. But with NEAR Shoemaker’s trip, Eros became the first asteroid to host an ...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will swoop past a small asteroid this weekend as it makes its way to an even bigger prize: the unexplored swarms of asteroids out near Jupiter.