DS1's mission is different from many space missions in its focus. Many space missions historically were motivated by the "space race" in the 1960's, with the goal of getting to space (and to the Moon) before the USSR did. Other, more recent space missions have been scientific missions motivated by finding out as much as possible about one body in or part of the solar system. Some, like Voyager, were designed to travel beyond the Solar system and serve as an introduction to Earth and humans for any non-Earth intelligent life in the universe. As part of NASA's New Millennium Program, DS1's mission is a technology-testing mission. The main point of DS1's mission is to try out new space technologies so that other missions can use them later.
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What is the difference between DS1 and NAS?
