Comet interceptor: an ESA mission to a dynamically new solar system object

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSánchez, Joan-Pau
dc.contributor.authorJones, G. H.
dc.contributor.authorSnodgrass, Colin
dc.date.accessioned2020-10-13T15:24:19Z
dc.date.available2020-10-13T15:24:19Z
dc.date.issued2020-10-12
dc.description.abstractWhile the scientific merits of past comet missions are unquestioned, previously visited comets had all approached the Sun on many occasions and, as a consequence, have also undergone substantial compositional and morphological alterations. Comet Interceptor (Comet-I) was recently selected as ESA’s first fast-track class mission and aims to explore a pristine comet, which will ideally be visiting the inner Solar System for the first time. Comet-I will hitch a ride to a Sun-Earth L2 quasi-halo orbit, as a co-passenger in ESA’s M4 ARIEL’s launch, in 2028. It will then remain there waiting for the right departure conditions to definitively leave the L2 point and intercept a newly discovered comet. Comet-I will be the first mission to be design and, possibly launched, without an identified target. Nevertheless, a Monte Carlo analysis modelling the uncertainties of the long period comet population and the spacecraft transfer capabilities demonstrate the high likelihood of completing the mission within 6 years. A few days before the closest approach Comet-I will release two small independent probes (~30 kg each) into fly-by paths with close approach distances in the order of a few hundred kilometres, while the main spacecraft (~700 kg) will take a safer path (~1000 km) to protect it from the dust environment. Comet-I will thus involve three spacecraft elements working together to ensure a low-risk, bountiful, interdisciplinary scientific return through unprecedented multipoint measurementsen_UK
dc.identifier.citationSánchez JP, Jones GH, Snodgrass C. (2020) Comet interceptor: an ESA mission to a dynamically new solar system object. In: 71st International Astronautical Congress - the Cyberspace Edition, 12-14 October 2020, Virtual Eventen_UK
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2020/
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/15881
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherhttp://www.iafastro.org/events/iac/iac-2020en_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectLong Period Cometsen_UK
dc.subjectMission Analysisen_UK
dc.subjectComet Interceptoren_UK
dc.subjectF-Class Missionen_UK
dc.subjectESAen_UK
dc.titleComet interceptor: an ESA mission to a dynamically new solar system objecten_UK
dc.typeConference paperen_UK

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Comet_interceptor_an_ESA_mission-2020.pdf
Size:
2.31 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Staff publications (SATM)