Vega 2, Venus and Halley's Comet spacecraft, launched 1984

 

Vega 2, launched December 21, 1984 by the Soviet Union, visited Venus and Halley's Comet.  The descent module was released from the flyby probe on June 13, 1985 and reached Venus two days later.  It consisted of a surface lander and a balloon explorer.

The lander touched down in the northern region of Aphrodite Terra.  Pressure was 91 atm and the temperature was 865° F or 463° C. The lander transmitted data for 56 minutes. The balloon explorer floated at a stable altitude of 53-54 km where the pressure was about 0.5 atm and the temperature of 95° - 109° F or 35° - 43° C. It transmitted for almost two days, during which it travelled 11,100 km or 6900 mi.   until the final transmission.

The Vegas' motherships were redirected to intercept Halley's Comet and reached its destination on March 9, 1986. The encounter lasted about 3 hours at its closest approach at 8030 km or 4990 mi.   Contact with Vega 2 was lost on March 24, 1987 after it measured dust as it passed through orbits of Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa, Biela's Comet and Comet 289/Blanpain.

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Vega 1 to Venus and Halley's Comet launched 1984

Vega 1, Soviet spacecraft to Venus and Halley's Comet, was launched December 15, 1984.  Its twin Vega 2 was launched six days later.  It reached Venus June 11, 1985, releasing its descent module two days prior.  The landing module contained a surface lander and a balloon explorer.

Vega 1 made a gravitational assist using Venus's gravity to continue its mission to Halley's Comet.  The first images of the comet were received March 4, 1986 and made its closest approach on March 6. Vega 1 sent images for the next two days.  The last contact made with the spacecraft as it headed into deep space was January 1987. 

Vega 2 encounters Halley's Comet 1986

Vega 2, launched in December 1984, made its closest approach to Halley's Comet March 9, 1986.  It first released a descent module onto the surface of Venus in June 1985.  After the Venus encounter, the Soviet spacecraft used the planet's gravity to intercept the comet.  It began its enounter on March 7, 1986 and made its closest approach March 9.  It took 700 images of Halley's Comet.

Contact with Vega 2 was lost March 24, 1987.

Giotto spacecraft flies by Halley's Comet 1986

Launched July 2, 1985 by the European Space Agency, the spacecraft Giotto made its closest approach to Halley's Comet, March 14, 1986.  Giotto passed less than 600 km from the comet's nucleus and sent back stunning pictures.  It survived several impacts from small objects and one even knocked it off its axis so its antenna did not point toward Earth and its on-board instruments were not protected by its dust shield.

Thirty-two minutes later it re-oriented itself and continued sending back data.  The Halley Multicolor Camera was destroyed by an impact but not before Giotto made its closest approach.

The following day, ESA turned off its instruments until July 2, 1990 when Giotto was reactivated so it could make a flyby of Comet Grigg-Skjellerup in July 1992, making it the first probe to visit two comets.

Giotto was part of a "Halley Armada" which was composed of several probes from different space agencies.  The Soviets sent Vega 1 and Vega 2.  Vega 1 made its closes approach, just under 9000 km, on March 6 and Vega 2 followed on March 9. 

The Japanese also sent two, Sagigake (March 11) and Suisei (March 8), but their closest approaches were about 1M km.

Vega 2, Soviet probe to Venus and Halley's Comet, launched 1984

In a rather ambitious program, the Soviets launched Vega 2, December 21, 1984 to visit both Venus and Halley's Comet.  The descent module separated from the flyby module June 13, 1985 and arrived at Venus two days later.  The flyby probe continued on to rendezvous with Halley's Comet.

The descent module consisted of a lander and a balloon probe.  The lander touched down in the Aphrodite Terra region and transmitted data for about 56 minutes before falling silent.

The balloon probe used a series of parachutes to reach an altitude of 53-54 kim in the middle layer of Venus' three-tiered atmosphere.  It transmitted data for almost 2 days and drifted about 11,000 km before sending its last transmission.  Who knows how far it kept drifting?

The flyby probe first encountered Halley's Comet March 7, 1986 and made its closest approach March 9.  It took pictures during a three-hour window during the closest enounter and continued to take pictures March 10 and 11.  Contact with Vega 2 last until March 24.