Comet Space Missions

Historic Comet Space Missions

• International Comet Explorer (ICE) (Nasa), formerly ISEE-3: passed comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in 1985 (first comet flyby), distant observations of 1P/Halley 1986. ISEE-3/ICE information from NSSDC (did you know this was once designated Explorer 59 ?); ICE page (JPL Stardust server)
• The following probes passed Comet 1P/Halley in 1986:
  • Suisei (Planet-A, Japan). Suisei info from NSSDC
  • Sakigake (MS-T5, Japan). Sakigake info from NSSDC
  • VeGa-1 (SU) (also passed Venus) VeGa 1 info from NSSDC
  • VeGa-2 (SU) (also passed Venus) VeGa 2 info from NSSDC
  • Giotto (ESA); also passed comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup 1992 Giotto info from NSSDC - Comet Halley from Giotto; Giotto page (JPL Stardust server)
• Deep Space 1 (Nasa): Launched from Cape Canaveral on October 24, 1998 by a Delta-2 rocket; this rocket also crried to orbit SEDSAT-1, an experimental science and technology satellite built by the University of Alabama at Huntsville Chapter of SEDS.
  DS1 was originally scheduled to be launched on July 1, 1998, to fly by comet 76P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura in 2000 as well as Amor (Mars-crossing) asteroid 3352 McAuliffe. Due to launch delay, new targets had to be selected; see press release for details: Asteroid 9969 Braille (previously known as 1992 KD) was passed at a distance of 15 km on July 29, 1999 at 04:45 UT, comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington was encountered in January 2001, and comet 19P/Borrelly was passed on September 22, 2001, 22:30UT at distance of only 2,200 km. Wilson-Harrington is of interest as it has ceased to behave like a comet and now looks like an asteroid (was dubbed 1979VA), while Borelly is one of the most active short-period comets.
  DS-1 is part of Nasa's New Millennium Program. DS-1 info from NSSDC.
• Stardust (Nasa): Stardust was successfully launched on February 7, 1999 21:04 UT (16:04 EST). After an almost 5-year interplanetary cruise, the spacecraft succesfully flew by the nucleus of Comet P/Wild 2 on January 2, 2004 about 19:45 UT (2:45p.m. EST), and besides taking images and data of the comet's nucleus, collected samples from the comet's coma. It returned to the vicinity of Earth, and and deployed a reentry capsule on January 15, 2006 for touchdown in Utah. During its cruise, Stardust passed and imaged asteroid 5535 Annefrank on November 2, 2002, 4:50 UT at 3300 km. In 2006, studies were initiated to use the Stardust spacecraft to fly-by comet 9P/Tempel 1, and investigate the artificial crater produced by the impactor of the Deep Impact spacecraft; this rendezvous would occur in 2011. Stardust homepage (JPL); Stardust info (NSSDC); Stardust NExT announce (Nasa HQ PR 06-342, October 30, 2006)
• Comet Nucleus Tour, Contour (Nasa): Multiple encounters at comets: After launch on July 4, 2002, this craft had been scheduled to encounter comet 1P/Encke in Nov 2003, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 in June 2006, 6P/d'Arrest in August 2008. Unfortunately, the spacecraft was presumably lost when igniting its STAR 30 solid rocket engine on 15 August 2002 in order to leave Earth's orbit in a heliocentric trajectory. Contour Project Homepage; Contour info from NSSDC; Contour page (JPL Stardust server)
• Rosetta (ESA): Originally scheduled for launch in January 2003, this spacecraft was to softland on comet 46P/Wirtanen in 2011 after one gravity assist flyby at Mars and two at Earth, and after passing by two asteroids (4979 Otawara and 140 Siwa).
  Now, Rosetta was successfully launched on March 2, 2004 with an Ariane V G+ from Kourou, and soon after launch, deployed its solar panels. It is to investigate Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It has now passed Earth for gravity assist in March 2005, and flown by Mars on February 25, 2007. Two further Earth gravity assist flybys are scheduled in November 2007 and November 2009. During interplanetary cruise, Rosetta will fly within 1,700 km of asteroid 2867 Steins on September 5, 2008, and within 3,000 km of asteroid 21 Lutetia on July 10, 2010. It should reach the comet in May 2014 and deliver a lander Philia, in November 2014. The comet will pass its perihelion in August 2015, and Rosetta is intended to continue investigating the comet until December 2015. Rosetta Homepage (ESA), Rosetta Mars Swingby (ESA); Rosetta info from NSSDC; Philae info (NSSDC)
• Deep Impact (Nasa): Successfully launched on January 12, 2005 by Delta II from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. After a successful interplanetary cruise, the spacecraft reached comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. The mother craft flew by the comet at 4,000 km, and released an impactor of weight 370 kg, made of copper and aluminium, which successfully crashed into the comet at about 10.2 km/s. The flyby craft collected data of the impact and comet. After the end of the primary mission in August 2005, the spacecraft was selected for two subsequent discovery missions: First, its high-resolution camera will be used to look for Earth-sized planets around other stars within the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh) project, and second, it is scheduled to fly-by comet 85P/Boethin in December 2008 within the Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI) project. Deep Impact project homepage (U MD), Deep Impact homepage (JPL), Deep Impact info from NSSDC, Deep Impact Impactor (DII) from NSSDC, Images of the Impactor Impact on Comet 9P/Tempel 1; Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI) and Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh) announce (Nasa HQ PR 06-342, October 30, 2006)
• New Horizons Pluto Kuiper Belt Flyby (Nasa): Successfully be launched on January 9, 2006 by Atlas V 551 with Star 48B third stage, this spacecraft passed within 101,867 km of main belt asteroid JF56 on 13 June 2006, and passed by Jupiter for gravity assist on February 28, 2007, on the occasion of which the Jupiter system was studied. After this assist, the mission is on trajectory to Pluto and Charon, where it should arrive nominally on July 14, 2015. It is scheduled to pass Pluto within 10,000 km, Charon at 27,000 km, and produce a long-range 40-km mapping as well as detailed high-resolution images of up to 25m resolution. Before and after Pluto flyby, the spacecraft should encounter one or more Centaur or Kuiper belt objects; it is hoped that the craft will work for another 5 to 10 years. New Horizons info from NSSDC

Scheduled Future Comet Missions

Discarded Projects

• Nasa's Comet Halley 1986 Mission
• CRAF (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby), was to be launched 1995 and fly by comet Kopff in August 2000, after having passed by asteroid Hamburga in June 1998. Was to be the first new-design Mariner Mark II spacecraft. CRAF info from NSSDC
• Deep Space 4, Champollion (Nasa): Comet softlanding and sample return. Launch was scheduled for April 19, 2003, arrival at comet Tempel 1 in 2005, sample return 2010. Champollion / Deep Space 4 info from NSSDC
• Pluto-Kuiper Express: Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt, to investigate the objects (comet nuclei) there .. Pluto-Kuiper Express info (NSSDC)

Other Missions Doing Comet Research

• Galileo: Observed comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact
• Ulysses: Comet studies included Shoemaker-Levy 9
• Several astronomy satellites (including IRAS, Hubble Space Telescope, Rosat, and several Space Shuttle Missions) were used to observe and/or discover comets

Links

• Comet Mission list from the Stardust mission pages (Ron Baalke, JPL/Nasa)
• Spacecraft Exploring Comets, by John Kavanagh, Canadian Space Society, Spring 1998
• Comets and Asteroid page (NSSDC)