Halley Armada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Halley Armada is a group of space probes sent to examine Comet Halley during its 1986 sojourn through the inner solar system. The armada consisted of one probe from the European Space Agency, two probes that were joint projects between the Soviet Union and France, two probes from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan, and a probe from the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Probes involved (in order of closest approach):

• Giotto, the first space probe to get close-up color images of the nucleus of a comet. (ESA)
• Vega 1, which dropped a balloon probe and lander on Venus before going on to Comet Halley. (USSR/France Intercosmos)
• Vega 2, which dropped a balloon probe and lander on Venus before going on to Comet Halley. (USSR/France Intercosmos)
• Suisei, also known as PLANET-A. Data from Sakigake was used to improve upon Suisei for its dedicated mission to study Halley. (ISAS)
• Sakigake, Japan's first probe to leave the Earth system, mainly a test of interplanetary mission technology. (ISAS)
• International Cometary Explorer, originally ISEE-3, was rechristened with a new mission to explore comets. (NASA)

v • d • e Halley Armada Giotto · Vega 1 · Vega 2 · Suisei · Sakigake · ICE