Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jun 19 2019, 03:13 PM

Mission to a dynamically new comet or an interstellar object selected by ESA:

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_s_new_mission_to_intercept_a_comet

Team website:

http://www.cometinterceptor.space

Posted by: stevesliva Jun 19 2019, 04:36 PM

Hitches a ride to L2, waits there for a reachable target to be discovered by telescopic surveys on Earth. Target must not have visited the inner solar system before.

Neat.

Posted by: monty python Jun 20 2019, 06:19 AM

I love it too. Just wonder how you get any decent delta V on those small probes.

Posted by: monty python Jun 22 2019, 07:09 AM

According to spaceflightnow.com ESA thinks they will need up to five years to find the comet they want, and need it to be found 5 to 6 years before closest approach to the sun for the project to work.

Posted by: stevesliva Jun 23 2019, 04:32 PM

Ion propulsion?

With the leftover tonnes in the Ariane 6-2... maybe "small" is relative. Could maybe be several times more massive than Deep Space 1.

Posted by: rlorenz Jun 23 2019, 07:57 PM

The proposal summary on their web page says it’s a trade to be performed whether chemical or electrical propulsion is used.

I’d suspect chemical is the way to go for a fast-response mission like this to keep cost down. Remember that it starts at L2, so you can dive into the gravity well for an efficient departure.

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jun 24 2019, 10:00 PM

The small probes would be attached to the primary spacecraft at L2 and for the cruise to the target. Separation would be around a day to weeks from closest approach, depending on the separation distances needed between the three elements (depends on activity level of the target and desired miss distances).

Separation of the three by diverging Keplerian orbits could be sufficient, but if not, the primary can use its own thrusters to increase rate of separation, rather than the subspacecraft needing to carry their own thrusters.

Posted by: dtolman Jun 26 2019, 03:32 AM

The mission profile for a potential exo-asteroid/comet interceptor would be very similar - a probe hanging around a Lagrange Point for an interception opportunity. Is there anything stopping this probe from intercepting ʻOumuamua Part II if it should occur once its on station at L2? Or does it lack the propulsion to catch up with something that fast?

Posted by: nprev Jun 26 2019, 04:31 AM

This would be a flyby, not a rendezvous, so it's probably not a question of catching up to it, just getting close enough for as long as possible. However, if the relative velocities are too high then a flyby probably wouldn't return enough data to make it worthwhile.

It's gonna be a situational call for every candidate object. Presumably extrasolar candidates would be of most interest but geometry & timing will make all the difference plus the estimated longevity of the spacecraft; it can't hang out at L2 waiting forever. Maybe they'll have a contingency alternate mission to Encke or some other inner system object if the clock starts running out. (3200 Phaethon would be a great choice...)

Posted by: Hungry4info Jun 26 2019, 05:21 AM

By the time this gets launched, LSST should be online and operating, giving us several targets of both solar and extrasolar origin.

Posted by: Explorer1 Jun 26 2019, 01:16 PM

The Phase 2 proposal paper says (at page 4)

"In the highly unlikely case that no such target can be found in time, a backup short period comet (baseline 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann3, but others are possible) can be studied, taking advantage of the mission's multi-point capabilities to make unique measurements that would still advance on Rosetta’s achievements in mapping the coma and comet/solarwind interaction."

http://www.cometinterceptor.space/uploads/1/2/3/7/123778284/comet_interceptor_executive_summary.pdf

Posted by: ynyralmaen Feb 18 2020, 03:04 PM

ESA has approved the advancement of Comet Interceptor from Phase 0, involving mission design & initial mission requirements, to Definition Phase A. The agency is now engaging with industry regarding spacecraft final design & build. https://sci.esa.int/web/future-missions-department/-/esa-starts-definition-phase-for-comet-interceptor.

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jun 14 2022, 11:02 AM

Comet Interceptor has been formally adopted by ESA, giving the green light for the implementation phase, i.e. the mission is definitely happening. An industrial consortium to build the main spacecraft and the European small probe will be selected by ESA in the near future; launch will be with the Ariel mission on an Ariane 62, currently scheduled for December 2029.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/comet-chaser-mission-moves-from-blueprint-to-reality?fbclid=IwAR2r-K7TjGUjO8TI9obU-ahdnx8MDu36dMeQc0hGY452rOwIMSI82ete7R0

and

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Comet_Interceptor_approved_for_construction

Posted by: bobik Jun 14 2022, 06:04 PM

Usually, at this stage of a project, ESA would be issuing the so-called "Red Book" or Definition Study Report, however, this does not seem to be the case this time.

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jun 14 2022, 09:05 PM

The Red Book definitely exists and should be available soon.

Posted by: bobik Oct 21 2022, 10:16 AM

Finally, recently the https://www.cosmos.esa.int/documents/9996064/9996083/Comet_Interceptor_Red_Book_V1-1_2022_04_26.pdf/7e6837ee-03ab-1772-fa72-0bbb0d2654ce?t=1663604632485 has surfaced on a web page for a https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/comet-interceptor-wgs-2022 of two Comet Interceptor working groups.

Posted by: ynyralmaen Jan 23 2023, 02:25 PM

The industrial contract for the building of the main Comet Interceptor spacecraft and one of its two probes was https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Comet_Interceptor_construction_moves_forward. Japan will be providing the second small probe for the mission.