ESA ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS
hasgivenSnodgrassthefunding,andheandProf
GeraintJonesfromUniversityCollegeLondon
willmastermindthemission.CometInterceptor
willlaunchin 2028 andwillwaitinspaceuntil
a targetcometis found.Designingandplanning
themissionwillbeunique,however,asthere
isn’ta specificcometinmind.“Noonehasever
designeda missionwithouta firstideaofwhat
thetargetis.Thisis veryunchartedterritory,”
saysSnodgrass.
A spacemissionusuallyhasa specifictarget,
andthatallowsengineersto calculatetheoptimum
trajectory,andthereforehowmuchfuelwillbe
needed,whichtellsthemthesizeof thefueltanks,
whichtellsthemhowmuchmassis availableto
useforthescientificinstruments.Inother words,
the target defines the spacecraft.Theproposedencounteralsoallowsthedesign
teamtofigureouttheoptimumplacetoputthe
solarpanelsandtheinstruments.Noneofthese
thingsareknownforCometInterceptor.Theteam
doesnotknowwhatdirectiontheywillapproach
theirtargetfrom,howfarfromtheSunthecomet
willbe,orhowfarfromtheEarth.Sothey have
todesignanextremelyflexible mission.LET’SGETASTROPHYSICAL
CometInterceptorwilltakeimagesofitscomet’s
surfaceat comparablequalityto thosethatRosetta
tookof comet67P,andit willlookat thedifferences
in compositionbetweenthetwocomets.“Weexpect
thechemicalmakeupof suchcometsto bepotentially
verydifferentfrom67P-likecomets,” saysProf
Stephen Lowry, a comet expert from the University 2COMET MISSIONS FEATURE