Advanced missions to primitive bodies

Abstract

Six interplanetary spacecraft, three earth orbital experiments, and one spacecraft orbiting Venus will observe comets Halley and Giacobini-Zinner in 1985-86. At comet Halley, attempts will be made to image the nucleus, remote sensing will be made by spectrometers in wavelength ranges from the IR to the UV, and in-situ observations will be made with neutral, ion and dust mass spectrometers. Plasma measurements will be made at both comets and at comet Halley the upstream solar wind flux will be simultaneously monitored by nearby spacecraft. In the post-Halley era, there are several missions being planned for the continued exploration of the solar system's most primitive bodies - comets and asteroids.