The International Cometary Explorer (ICE), launched in August 1978, passed through the Giacobini-Zinner comet on September 11, 1985 and conducted a flyby of the comet's nucleus at 4800 miles.
Showing posts with label International Cometary Explorer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Cometary Explorer. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
International Cometary Explorer launched 1978
The International Cometary Explorer (ICE), also known as the International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3), was launched August 12, 1978. It became the first spacecraft to visit a comet, when it encountered Comet Giacobini-Zinner in September 1985.
It made a flyby of Halley's Comet in March 1986, but the closest it got to the comet's nucleus was 28M kilometers. By comparison, Earth's minimum distance was 20.8M kilometers.
Contact with the probe was lost September 16, 2014.
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