Comet Interceptor will be first probe to be parked in space waiting for the ideal target — possibly one from outside the Solar System.
An artist's impression of Comet Interceptor, which is due to launch in 2028 and will wait for its target for up to six years.approved a new mission
Here, Comet Interceptor — the first of ESA’s ‘F-class’ quick-development missions — will remain floating in space, while scientists back on Earth search for a suitable target for it to visit. The goal is to find a pristine comet on a wide orbit taking hundreds of years, known as a long-period comet, that is entering the solar system for the first time. Such a comet could originate from a vast region of icy objects called the Oort Cloud, that exists far beyond Neptune in the outer Solar System.
Once the spacecraft is in position at L2, it can wait there for at least six years for a suitable target to pass close enough to Earth’s orbit to visit. When that occurs, Comet Interceptor will fire its thrusters and leave L2 on a fly-by course. The main spacecraft will fly past the comet at a distance of about 1,000 kilometres to avoid any damage from material nearby, while the smaller probes will dive closer, down to as little as 400 kilometres from the surface.
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