[X] My Assistant

[Tom Womack]

How hard is it (in delta-V terms) to launch a probe into orbit around Halley's Comet?

The orbit is obviously very eccentric; also inclined and retrograde. From the example of Ulysses, a suitable Jupiter flyby can put you into an orbit which is inclined, retrograde, and with aphelion at Jupiter, but I have no idea how hard it is then to raise aphelion and lower perihelion to match the comet.

It sounds the sort of thing that an orbit-designer would have done as an example at some stage, but I can't immediately find it on the Web.

[Explorer1]

A famous comet, an opportunity to compare and contrast changes between perihelion from the last visits? Seems like as good reason as any.
We don't know what the science priorities will be in the 2050s, at any rate...

[SFJCody]

Rather than Halley, I think it would be a good idea to build a long-period comet flyby spacecraft. It could be prepared with no specific target in mind and launched when an incoming body that can be intercepted is identified. Given the cadence of these things it shouldn't take too long.

[ngunn]

I think it would be a good idea to build a long-period comet flyby spacecraft. It could be prepared with no specific target in mind

An excellent idea. All sorts of exciting possibilities come to mind for such a project. For example by picking a sungrazer comet you could hitch a ride really close to the Sun, always keeping the craft in the shade of the nucleus. (A fast and deep perihelion is a good platform from which to launch an interstellar probe, but that's a whole other topic and I don't want to digress too much - anyone interested should look up 'sundiver' missions.)

EDIT: I think that a long period comet catcher is the sort of imaginative idea that The Planetary Society could consider promoting, maybe by sponsoring a mission design competition? Just a thought.