Discovery Program - Failed Mission

Failed Mission

  • Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR), a mission to visit and study comets Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3. It was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 3, 2002. On August 15, contact with the craft was lost. Subsequent investigation revealed that it broke into at least three pieces, the cause likely being structural failure during the rocket motor burn that was to push it from Earth orbit into a solar orbit.

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