Which spacecraft was the first to orbit an asteroid?

NEAR Shoemaker was the first spacecraft to orbit an asteroid.

NASA launched the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission in 1996, and it entered orbit around asteroid 433 Eros on February 14, 2000. The spacecraft studied Eros’s shape, composition, gravity, surface geology, and magnetic properties.

The mission was renamed NEAR Shoemaker in honor of planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker. After completing its orbital science program, the spacecraft descended to Eros’s surface on February 12, 2001, in an unplanned but controlled landing. It continued transmitting data after touchdown.

NEAR Shoemaker is sometimes confused with Hayabusa, which later returned asteroid samples to Earth, or Dawn, which orbited the asteroid Vesta. NEAR’s achievement was specifically the first asteroid orbit.