Planetary science

Giotto

Completed

Image: ESA · CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Wikimedia Commons

Launched: 2 Jul 198511:23:13 UTC
Last contact: 23 Jul 1992
Duration: 7 years
Destinations: Halley's Comet, Grigg–Skjellerup

ESA's first deep-space mission, which passed within 600 km of the nucleus of Halley's Comet in 1986 and returned the first close-up images of a comet's core. It later flew past a second comet, Grigg–Skjellerup.

Milestones

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1986198719881989199019911992

Spacecraft

Giotto

Flyby

Completed

Spin-stabilised probe protected by a two-layer dust shield, which was battered but survived the encounter.

Launch mass: 958 kg
Dry mass: 476 kg
Size: 2.9 m × 1.9 m, span 2.9 m
Power: Solar
Built by: British Aerospace
Last contact: 23 Jul 1992
Designator: 1985-056A

Mission details from esa.int.