CONTOUR

The Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) was a Discovery-class space mission. It had as its primary objective close fly-bys of two comet nuclei with the possibility of a fly-by of a third known comet or an as-yet-undiscovered comet. The two comets scheduled to be visited were Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, and the third target was d'Arrest. It was hoped that a new comet would have been discovered that would have been in the inner solar system between 2006 and 2008, in which case the spacecraft trajectory would have been changed if possible to rendezvous with the new comet. Scientific objectives included imaging the nuclei at resolutions of 4 m, performing spectral mapping of the nuclei at resolutions of 100-200 m, and obtaining detailed compositional data on gas and dust in the near-nucleus environment, with the goal of improving our knowledge of the characteristics of comet nuclei.

Related Topics:
Comet - Encke - Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 - D'Arrest - 2006 - 2008 - Compositional data

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After booster ignition for solar orbit injection on 15 August 2003, contact with the probe could not be re-established. Ground-based telescopes later found three objects along the course of the satellite, leading to the speculation that it had been destroyed. Attempts to contact the probe were ended on 20 December 2003. The probe accomplished none of its objectives.

Related Topics:
15 August - 2003 - 20 December

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