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ESA's Comet Interceptor by vjkane on 19 Jun, 2019 23:19
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Mission website: http://www.cometinterceptor.space/
Press release website: http://sci.esa.int/cosmic-vision/61416-esa-s-new-mission-to-intercept-a-comet/
ESA's new mission to intercept a comet
19 June 2019
'Comet Interceptor' has been selected as ESA's new fast-class mission in its Cosmic Vision Programme. Comprising three spacecraft, it will be the first to visit a truly pristine comet or other interstellar object that is only just starting its journey into the inner Solar System.
Comet Interceptor concept. Credit: ESA
The mission will travel to an as-yet undiscovered comet, making a flyby of the chosen target when it is on the approach to Earth's orbit. Its three spacecraft will perform simultaneous observations from multiple points around the comet, creating a 3D profile of a 'dynamically new' object that contains unprocessed material surviving from the dawn of the Solar System.
"Pristine or dynamically new comets are entirely uncharted and make compelling targets for close-range spacecraft exploration to better understand the diversity and evolution of comets," says Günther Hasinger, ESA's Director of Science.
"The huge scientific achievements of Giotto and Rosetta – our legacy missions to comets – are unrivalled, but now it is time to build upon their successes and visit a pristine comet, or be ready for the next 'Oumuamua-like interstellar object."
What is a Fast mission?
Comet Interceptor is a 'fast', or F-class mission. The 'fast' refers to the implementation time, with a total development duration from selection to launch readiness of about eight years. F-class missions, which have a launch mass of less than 1000 kg, will share the ride into space with a medium-class mission, taking advantage of additional space in the launcher and the boost to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, which is 1.5 million kilometres 'behind' Earth as viewed from the Sun.
Comet Interceptor is foreseen for launch as co-passenger with ESA's exoplanet-studying ARIEL spacecraft in 2028. Both missions will be delivered to L2 and from there Comet Interceptor will journey onwards to the chosen target using its own propulsion system.
The selection process has also been fast. Following a call for missions in July 2018, 23 pitches were submitted by the space science community, with six teams subsequently invited to provide more detailed proposals. Among them, Comet Interceptor was chosen at today's Science Programme Committee to move into a more detailed definition phase.
"We thank the space science community for their excellent proposals, which covered a broad range of novel topics that could be explored within the constraints of the F-class guidelines," says Director Hasinger.
"This type of innovative mission will play an important role in supplementing ESA's Science Programme as we plan for the next decades of scientific exploration of our Universe.
"We are also happy to maintain the 'fast' mission philosophy by selecting Comet Interceptor within a year since the original call for proposals was made."
What's new about Comet Interceptor?
Comet Interceptor comprises three spacecraft. The composite spacecraft will wait at L2 for a suitable target, then travel together before the three modules separate a few weeks prior to intercepting the comet. Each module will be equipped with a complementary science payload, providing different perspectives of the comet's nucleus and its gas, dust, and plasma environment. Such 'multi-point' measurements will greatly improve the 3D information needed to understand the dynamic nature of a pristine comet while it is interacting with the constantly changing solar wind environment.
The mission's instrument suite will draw on heritage from other missions, including a camera based on the one currently flying on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, along with dust, fields and plasma instruments, as well as a mass spectrometer, like those that flew on ESA's Rosetta.
Previous comet missions, including ESA's pioneering spacecraft Giotto and Rosetta, encountered short-period comets. These are comets with orbital periods of less than 200 years that have approached the Sun many times along their orbits in relatively recent times and as a consequence have undergone significant changes: Rosetta's comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko orbits the Sun once every 6.5 years while Comet 1P/Halley, visited by Giotto and other spacecraft in 1986, returns to our skies every 76 years.
Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud in context.
Credit: ESA
Comet Interceptor is different because it will target a comet visiting the inner Solar System for the first time – perhaps from the vast Oort cloud that is thought to surround the outer reaches of the Sun's realm. As such, the comet will contain material that has not undergone much processing since the dawn of the Sun and planets. The mission will therefore offer a new insight into the evolution of comets as they migrate inwards from the periphery of the Solar System.
Although much rarer, another example of a potential target is an interstellar interloper from another star system, like the famed 'Oumuamua that flew past our Sun on a highly inclined orbit in 2017. Studying an interstellar object would offer the chance to explore how comet-like bodies form and evolve in other star systems.
In the past, 'new' comets have only been discovered a few months to years before they pass through their closest approach to the Sun, which is too short notice to plan, build and launch a space mission, and for it to travel to the specific object before it moves away from the Sun again.
Recent advances in ground-based surveys mean that the sky can be scanned more deeply and longer notice can be provided. Pan-STARRS is currently the most proliferous comet discovery machine, with more than half of all new comets per year uncovered by the survey. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, currently under construction in Chile, will also greatly increase the catalogue of new comets.
In any case, the destination for Comet Interceptor does not need to be known while the mission is being prepared; the spacecraft can be ready and waiting in space for a suitable comet encounter, and is expected to complete its mission within five years of launch. -
#1 by plutogno on 20 Jun, 2019 05:43
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I've been hoping for a mission like this for years! very neat, thanks ESA
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#2 by bolun on 08 Feb, 2020 18:33
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ESA STARTS DEFINITION PHASE FOR COMET INTERCEPTOR
6 February 2020
Following an internal assessment of the results of the phase 0 studies, the European Space Agency is moving forward starting the Definition Phase (phase A) for the F-class mission Comet Interceptor.
The Comet Interceptor phase 0 has involved an extensive study performed by the ESTEC Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). The study activities have been completed in December 2019, allowing to define the preliminary mission requirements and to better define the mission design. On the basis of these results, ESA decided to move forward and start the Definition Phase activities (phase A/B).
A Request for Information has been released to industry, so as to prepare for issuing the spacecraft Invitation To Tender in the second quarter of 2020. The completion of the Definition Phase is expected in 2022.
https://sci.esa.int/s/wRLegV8 -
#3 by bolun on 12 Nov, 2020 13:35
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https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Ariel_moves_from_blueprint_to_realityQuote
ESA’s exoplanet mission Ariel, scheduled for launch in 2029 ...
QuoteAriel is planned for launch on ESA’s new Ariane 6 rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. It will operate from an orbit around the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, L2, 1.5 million kilometres directly ‘behind’ Earth as viewed from the Sun, on an initial four-year mission. The ESA-led Comet Interceptor mission will share the ride into space.
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#4 by bolun on 04 Aug, 2021 08:58
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#5 by bolun on 09 Jun, 2022 15:16
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Comet Interceptor approved for constructionQuote
ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission to visit a pristine comet or other interstellar object just starting its journey into the inner Solar System has been ‘adopted’ this week; the study phase is complete and, following selection of the spacecraft prime contractor, work will soon begin to build the mission.
QuoteComet Interceptor was adopted by ESA during the Agency’s Science Programme Committee meeting on 8 June. The mission is led by ESA with support from the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).
QuoteComet Interceptor will be made up of a main spacecraft and two probes, which will surround the comet to observe it from multiple angles. In this way, the innovative mission will build up a 3D profile of its as-yet-undiscovered target. ESA is responsible for the main spacecraft and one of the probes, while JAXA is responsible for the second probe.
QuoteComet Interceptor was proposed to ESA in July 2018 and selected in June 2019. It is an example of a ‘fast’ or F-class mission, which only take about eight years from selection to launch. These smaller missions weigh less than 1000 kg.
The mission is expected to launch together with ESA’s exoplanet-studying Ariel mission in 2029. The two missions will travel together to L2 – a location 1.5 million km ‘behind’ Earth as viewed from the Sun. There, Comet Interceptor will wait for a suitable target. Once one is spotted and selected, the mission will continue its journey. -
#6 by bolun on 15 Dec, 2022 20:12
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Comet Interceptor construction moves forwardQuote
ESA and OHB have signed a contract to move forward with the design and construction of ESA’s ambitious Comet Interceptor spacecraft, planned for launch in 2029.
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#7 by bolun on 03 Mar, 2024 18:01
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Comet Interceptor
The mission
ESA’s Comet Interceptor will be the first mission to visit a comet coming directly from the outer reaches of the Sun's realm, carrying material untouched since the dawn of the Solar System.
After launch, the spacecraft will be 'parked' in space before moving to intercept a suitable pristine comet. When the comet is near, the main spacecraft will release two probes to observe the comet from multiple directions at the same time.
Comet Interceptor is an ESA-led mission in collaboration with JAXA.
The launch
Launch period: 2029
Launch location: Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana
Launch vehicle: Ariane 62
Destination: pristine comet or interstellar object
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Comet_Interceptor
Image credit: ESA
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#8 by Blackstar on 03 Mar, 2024 18:59
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I will research this, but what makes this different than Rosetta?
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#9 by Hobbes-22 on 03 Mar, 2024 19:23
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This mission is intended to go after a pristine comet, i.e. one that's coming near the sun for the first time. 69P C-G had already made several sun flybys by the time Rosetta visited it so some of the volatiles were already gone.
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#10 by edzieba on 04 Mar, 2024 10:56
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I will research this, but what makes this different than Rosetta?
Rosetta was a mission targeting a specific comet from the outset. Comet Interceptor is intended to 'loiter' in a high energy orbit until an interstellar comet (or other object of interest) on a reachable trajectory is spotted, at which point it will then be activated to intercept it. Sort of like New Horizons' extended mission to Arrokoth, but without the primary mission bit.
The idea is that since interstellar objects are generally only identified so 'late' in their approach that any interceptor mission would have had to have been launched several years in the past to actually reach it (even skipping the pesky design and build stages), building and launching the probe first sidesteps that issue. -
#11 by Zed_Noir on 05 Mar, 2024 06:32
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<snip>
Alternatively, a group of SmallSat probes could use a sufficiently large ground based launcher to brute force an interception trajectory towards an interstellar object. Presuming a sufficiently large launcher that could be on long term standby and the group of probes are available.
Comet Interceptor is intended to 'loiter' in a high energy orbit until an interstellar comet (or other object of interest) on a reachable trajectory is spotted, at which point it will then be activated to intercept it. Sort of like New Horizons' extended mission to Arrokoth, but without the primary mission bit.
The idea is that since interstellar objects are generally only identified so 'late' in their approach that any interceptor mission would have had to have been launched several years in the past to actually reach it (even skipping the pesky design and build stages), building and launching the probe first sidesteps that issue. -
#12 by Kiwi53 on 05 Mar, 2024 22:52
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<snip>
Alternatively, a group of SmallSat probes could use a sufficiently large ground based launcher to brute force an interception trajectory towards an interstellar object. Presuming a sufficiently large launcher that could be on long term standby and the group of probes are available.
Comet Interceptor is intended to 'loiter' in a high energy orbit until an interstellar comet (or other object of interest) on a reachable trajectory is spotted, at which point it will then be activated to intercept it. Sort of like New Horizons' extended mission to Arrokoth, but without the primary mission bit.
The idea is that since interstellar objects are generally only identified so 'late' in their approach that any interceptor mission would have had to have been launched several years in the past to actually reach it (even skipping the pesky design and build stages), building and launching the probe first sidesteps that issue.
Yes, but ESA don't have, and don't have plans for, 'a sufficiently large ground based launcher'.
Neither do they have, or have plans for, a launcher that flies at such a cadence that this launch on requirement plan could be implemented.
Hence Plan B: "Comet Interceptor" -
#13 by Zed_Noir on 07 Mar, 2024 04:48
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<snip>
Alternatively, a group of SmallSat probes could use a sufficiently large ground based launcher to brute force an interception trajectory towards an interstellar object. Presuming a sufficiently large launcher that could be on long term standby and the group of probes are available.
Comet Interceptor is intended to 'loiter' in a high energy orbit until an interstellar comet (or other object of interest) on a reachable trajectory is spotted, at which point it will then be activated to intercept it. Sort of like New Horizons' extended mission to Arrokoth, but without the primary mission bit.
The idea is that since interstellar objects are generally only identified so 'late' in their approach that any interceptor mission would have had to have been launched several years in the past to actually reach it (even skipping the pesky design and build stages), building and launching the probe first sidesteps that issue.
Yes, but ESA don't have, and don't have plans for, 'a sufficiently large ground based launcher'.
Neither do they have, or have plans for, a launcher that flies at such a cadence that this launch on requirement plan could be implemented.
Hence Plan B: "Comet Interceptor"
Will point out that ESA could buy or reserved a cheap ride on a sufficiently large ground based launcher with a high launch cadence soon.
The pool of probes available to put on a "Comet Interception" mission could be updated and/or upgraded later if they are not at L2.
Also the ground operations and support group will be quite small for a ground stored group of probes as compared to one keeping the Comet Interceptor bus on standby at L2 for it's service life.
Consider that the current ESA Comet Intercept mission plan is for one interception attempt with a SmallSat stationed at L2 with a limited service life. A ground launch Comet Intercept mission could send a group of SmallSats that could be updated and/or upgraded instead.
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#14 by deadman1204 on 11 Mar, 2024 17:25
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<snip>
Alternatively, a group of SmallSat probes could use a sufficiently large ground based launcher to brute force an interception trajectory towards an interstellar object. Presuming a sufficiently large launcher that could be on long term standby and the group of probes are available.
Comet Interceptor is intended to 'loiter' in a high energy orbit until an interstellar comet (or other object of interest) on a reachable trajectory is spotted, at which point it will then be activated to intercept it. Sort of like New Horizons' extended mission to Arrokoth, but without the primary mission bit.
The idea is that since interstellar objects are generally only identified so 'late' in their approach that any interceptor mission would have had to have been launched several years in the past to actually reach it (even skipping the pesky design and build stages), building and launching the probe first sidesteps that issue.
Yes, but ESA don't have, and don't have plans for, 'a sufficiently large ground based launcher'.
Neither do they have, or have plans for, a launcher that flies at such a cadence that this launch on requirement plan could be implemented.
Hence Plan B: "Comet Interceptor"
Will point out that ESA could buy or reserved a cheap ride on a sufficiently large ground based launcher with a high launch cadence soon.
The pool of probes available to put on a "Comet Interception" mission could be updated and/or upgraded later if they are not at L2.
Also the ground operations and support group will be quite small for a ground stored group of probes as compared to one keeping the Comet Interceptor bus on standby at L2 for it's service life.
Consider that the current ESA Comet Intercept mission plan is for one interception attempt with a SmallSat stationed at L2 with a limited service life. A ground launch Comet Intercept mission could send a group of SmallSats that could be updated and/or upgraded instead.
Starship solves everything space is in this thread too? -
#15 by Zed_Noir on 11 Mar, 2024 17:46
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<snip>
New Glenn with a Helios kick stage should have adequate performance.
Starship solves everything space is in this thread too?
