Probes Giotto, comet Halley

1986/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

By the time this issue of the journal is published, the Giotto probe, the compact "coma" of the Halley comet (layer of dust surrounding the nucleus), has already passed. Due to the high crossing speeds, the probe must perform the tests in a few minutes. Of course, this problem greatly limits the data to be obtained.

Taking advantage of the fruits of Giotto's experience, several astronomers propose to build a new Giotto. This Giotto II would be a round trip probe whose aim is to bring to the ground a sample of a kite.

The Giotto II, equipped with an American sampler, would be launched from the space shuttle. Placed in the proper orbit, after crossing the comet and taking the sample, it would return to Earth on the path of "free return".

The harvesters located at the end of the probe would collect the comet material. As the Giotto II approached Earth, the braking rockets would be lit and the speed of the probe would be reduced, in the shuttle lesson. Another of the proposed systems for sample recovery is the launch in a reintroduction capsule that is used for collecting information from military satellites.