List of missions to comets
As of 2024, the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the European Space Agency have conducted missions to comets.
| Spacecraft | Launch date[1] | Operator | Comet | Mission | Outcome | Remarks | Carrier rocket[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICE (ISEE-3) | 12 August 1978 | NASA United States / ESA | 21P/Giacobini–Zinner | Flyby | Successful | Extended mission; Closest approach of 7,862 kilometres (4,885 mi) at 11:02 UTC on 11 September 1985. Also made distant observations of 1P/Halley in May 1986.[3] | Delta 2914 |
| Vega 1 (5VK No.901) | 15 December 1984 | Soviet Union | 1P/Halley | Flyby | Successful | Flew past Halley after visiting Venus; closest approach 8,889 kilometres (5,523 mi) at 07:20:06 UTC on 6 March 1986.[4] | Proton-K/D-1 |
| Vega 2 (5VK No.902) | 21 December 1984 | Soviet Union | 1P/Halley | Flyby | Successful | Flew past Halley after visiting Venus; closest approach at 07:20 UTC on 9 March 1986.[5] | Proton-K/D-1 |
| Sakigake (MS-T5) | 7 January 1985 | ISAS Japan | 1P/Halley | Flyby | Successful | Closest approach of 6.99 million kilometres (4.34 million miles) at 04:18 UTC on 11 March 1986.[6] | Mu-3S-II |
| Giotto | 2 July 1985 | ESA | 1P/Halley | Flyby | Successful | Closest approach of 605 kilometres (376 mi) at 00:03:02 UTC on 14 March 1986.[7] | Ariane 1 |
| 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup | Flyby | Successful | Extended mission. Closest approach of 200 kilometres (120 mi) at 15:30 UTC on 10 July 1992.[7] | ||||
| Suisei (PLANET-A) | 19 August 1985 | ISAS Japan | 1P/Halley | Flyby | Successful | Closest approach of 152,400 kilometres (94,700 mi) at 13:06 UTC on 8 March 1986[8] | Mu-3S-II |
| 21P/Giacobini–Zinner | Flyby | Spacecraft failure (Extended mission) | Extended mission, spacecraft ran out of fuel en route; flyby had been scheduled for 24 November 1998[8] | ||||
| Deep Space 1 | 24 October 1998 | NASA United States | 107P/Wilson–Harrington[9] | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Spacecraft was unable to reach Wilson–Harrington due to ion engine operation being suspended while a problem with the probe's star tracker was investigated.[10] | Delta II 7326 |
| 19P/Borrelly | Flyby | Successful | Extended mission | ||||
| Stardust (Discovery 4) | 7 February 1999 | NASA United States | 81P/Wild | Flyby | Successful | Delta II 7426 | |
| Sample return | Successful | ||||||
| 9P/Tempel | Flyby | Successful | Extended mission, Stardust-NExT, to survey crater caused by Deep Impact | ||||
| CONTOUR (Discovery 6) | 3 July 2002 | NASA United States | 2P/Encke | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Delta II 7425 | |
| 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | |||||
| 6P/d'Arrest | Flyby | Spacecraft failure | Flyby provisionally scheduled at time of spacecraft's failure | ||||
| Rosetta | 2 March 2004 | ESA | 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Orbiter | Successful | Entered orbit around 67P at 09:06 UTC on 6 August 2014. On 30 September 2016 mission ended in an attempt to slow land on the comet's surface near a 130 m (425 ft) wide pit called Deir el-Medina. | Ariane 5G+ |
| Philae | 2 March 2004 | ESA / DLR Germany | 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Lander | Successful | Carried by Rosetta. Came to rest on the surface of 67P at 17:32 UTC on 12 November 2014. Communications ceased with the loss of battery power at 00:36 UTC on 15 November 2014 and the lander began hibernating. Reactivated on solar power and briefly established contact with ground control again at 20:28 UTC on 13 June 2015, and sporadically until 9 July 2015 when the last communication was received.[11][12] | Ariane 5G+ |
| Deep Impact (Discovery 7) | 12 January 2005 | NASA United States | 9P/Tempel | Flyby | Successful | Delta II 7925 | |
| Impactor | Successful | Impact occurred at 05:52 UTC on 4 July 2005. | |||||
| 103P/Hartley | Flyby | Successful | Extended mission (EPOXI) |
See also
- List of missions to minor planets (includes asteroids)
- List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft
References
- ^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ "Solar System Exploration - ISEE-3/ICE". NASA. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Solar System Exploration - Vega 1". NASA. Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Solar System Exploration - Vega 2". NASA. Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Solar System Exploration - Sakigake". NASA. Archived from the original on 18 August 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Solar System Exploration - Giotto". NASA. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Solar System Exploration - Suisei". NASA. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ Wilson-Harrington is catalogued as both a comet and an asteroid
- ^ "Solar System Exploration - Deep Space 1". NASA. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "Rosetta's lander Philae wakes up from hibernation". European Space Agency, Rosetta Blog. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ Baldwin, Emily (20 July 2015). "Rosetta and Philae status update". European Space Agency. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- v
- t
- e
- New Horizons (multiple flybys)
- OSIRIS-APEX (orbiter)
- Hayabusa2♯ (lander)
- Lucy (multiple flybys)
- LICIACube (flyby)
- Psyche (orbiter)
| Flybys |
|
|---|---|
| Orbiters |
|
| Landers |
|
| Impactors |
|
| Sample return |
|
- Hera (orbiter, 2024)
- AIDA
- DESTINY+ (multiple flybys, 2025)
- Tianwen-2 (multiple flybys and sample return, 2025)
- MBR Explorer (multiple flybys and orbiter, 2028)
- Comet Interceptor (flyby, 2029)
- ASTER (orbiter, 2021)
- Athena (flyby of Pallas, 2022)
- Shensuo (flybys, 2024)
- Centaurus (multiple flybys, 2026–2029)
- Chimera (orbiter, 2025)
- CORSAIR (sample return)
- HAMMER (nuclear impactor concept)
- MANTIS (multiple flybys)
- OKEANOS (multiple flybys and sample return, 2026)
- World Is Not Enough (spacecraft refueling concept)
- Interstellar Probe (flyby, 2030–2042)
not developed
- AGORA
- AIM
- Asteroid Redirect Mission
- CAESAR
- Castalia
- Clementine 2
- Comet Hopper
- CONDOR
- CRAF
- Don Quijote
- Hayabusa Mk2
- Janus
- MAOSEP
- Marco Polo
- New Horizons 2
- Vesta
- Probes are listed in chronological order of launch. † indicates mission failures.
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Solar System → Local Interstellar Cloud → Local Bubble → Gould Belt → Orion Arm → Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Local Sheet → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Local Hole → Observable universe → Universe | |||||||||||||||||||||
