Comet Probes
| Target | Spacecraft | Organization | Date | Type | Status | Notes | Image | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | ICE (formerly ISEE3) | NASA | 11 September 1985 | flyby | success | previously solar monitor ISEE3; went on to observe Halley's Comet | |||
| 1P/Halley | Vega 1 | SAS | 6 March 1986 | flyby | success | minimum distance 8,890 km; previously visited Venus | |||
| 1P/Halley | Suisei | ISAS | 8 March 1986 | flyby | success | 151,000 km | |||
| 1P/Halley | Vega 2 | SAS | 9 March 1986 | flyby | success | minimum distance 8,890 km; previously visited Venus | |||
| 1P/Halley | Sakigake | ISAS | March 1986 | distant flyby | partial success | minimum distance 6.99 million km | |||
| 1P/Halley | Giotto | ESA | 14 March 1986 | flyby | success | minimum distance 596 km; went on to visit comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup | |||
| 1P/Halley | ICE (formerly ISEE3) | NASA | 28 March 1986 | distant obser- vations |
success | minimum distance 32 million km; previously visited comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | |||
| 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup | Giotto | ESA | 10 July 1992 | flyby | success | previously visited Halley's Comet | |||
| 45P/ Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova |
Sakigake | ISAS | 1996 | flyby | failure | contact lost; previously visited Halley's Comet | |||
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | Sakigake | ISAS | 1998 | flyby | failure | ||||
| 55P/Tempel-Tuttle | Suisei | ISAS | 1998 | flyby | failure | abandoned due to lack of fuel; previously visited Halley's Comet | |||
| 21P/Giacobini-Zinner | Suisei | ISAS | 1998 | flyby | failure | ||||
| 19P/Borrelly | Deep Space 1 | NASA | 22 September 2001 | flyby | success | previously visited asteroid 9969 Braille | |||
| 2P/Encke | CONTOUR | NASA | 2003 | flyby | failure | contact lost shortly after launch | |||
| 81P/Wild | Stardust | NASA | 2 January 2004 | flyby, sample return | success | sample returned January 2006; also visited asteroid 5535 Annefrank | |||
| 9P/Tempel | Deep Impact | NASA | July 2005 | flyby | success | ||||
| Impactor | NASA | 4 July 2005 | impactor | success | |||||
| 73P/ Schwassmann-Wachmann |
CONTOUR | NASA | 2006 | flyby | failure | contact lost shortly after launch | |||
| 6P/d'Arrest | CONTOUR | NASA | 2008 | flyby | failure | contact lost shortly after launch | |||
| 103P/Hartley | Deep Impact (redesignated EPOXI) | NASA | 4 November 2010 | flyby | success | mission extension (target changed from comet Boethin) | |||
| 9P/Tempel | Stardust (redesignated NExT) | NASA | 14 February 2011 | flyby | success | mission extension | |||
| 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko |
Rosetta | ESA | 2014–15 | orbiter | en route | flybys of asteroids 2867 Šteins and 21 Lutetia also scheduled | |||
| Philae | ESA | 2014 | lander | en route | |||||
Read more about this topic: List Of Solar System Probes
Famous quotes containing the word comet:
“Ah, like a comet through flame she moves entranced
Wrapt in her music no bird song, no, nor bough
Breaking with honey buds, shall ever equal.”
—Stephen Spender (1909–1995)