Home · Science · Sep 8 archive
New Mission Could Rendezvous With Halley's Comet in 2061
Developing
In Short: A new mission plan, described in a pre-print paper, aims to rendezvous with Halley's Comet for the first time, using a unique trajectory that involves gravity assists from Jupiter and Saturn.
After the brief visits of previous missions, various groups have been planning a rendezvous mission with Halley's Comet, which captures the imagination of planetary scientists.
Researchers at Khalifa University and their co-authors have proposed a mission plan that would allow a spacecraft to actually catch up to the comet in-situ, thanks to a trajectory involving gravity assists from both Jupiter and Saturn.
By 'dancing' around these planets, the spacecraft could use low-power Hall-effect thrusters to match the comet's trajectory, leaving enough 'dry' mass for scientific exploration.
Halley's comet, known for its retrograde orbit and extreme inclination, has eluded prolonged study due to the high energy required for a rendezvous, leading to previous missions only collecting data during flybys.
This new approach, detailed in a pre-print paper, could finally allow scientists to explore Halley's Comet for an extended period, addressing many unanswered questions about its surface and composition.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Fraser explains what comet tails are made out of A traditional, single gravity assist wouldn’t fit the bill alone, as many previous mission architectures had discovered.
- However, by dancing around the gravity wells of both Jupiter and Saturn, the authors found a sweet spot where they could use simple low-power Hall-effect thrusters, which, crucially already exist, to catch up to the comet in-situ and still have enough “dry” mass left over to do some interesting science.
- Halley’s comet captures the imagination in a way that few other astronomical objects do.
- Yet, because of the comet’s trajectory, those spacecraft were only able to visit their target for a fleeting few hours, leaving planetary scientists wanting more.
Sources
- Universe Todaylink