A real fleet of space robots was used to study Halley's comet: two Japanese probes (Suisei and Sakigake), two Soviet craft (Vega 1 and 2) and one European vehicle (Giotto). Their purpose: to get close to the celestial body in order to analyze the chemical composition of the gases emitted, their energy, the magnetic field, the brightness of the tail, the type and dimension of the solid particles present and even to photograph the nucleus, the most secret and mysterious part. All were launched slightly more than a year prior to the arrival of the comet to guarantee that there would be enough time to reach the rendez-vous point, 140 000 000 kilometers from the Earth. Each probe had a precise task to perform in the few days between March 6-13, 1986. The first thing they discovered is that the dust holds the greatest surprises. On March 8, the Suisei probe got to within 300 000 kilometers from the nucleus, but suddenly was struck by two particles weighing less than one milligram, but which are deadly because of the high speed with which they strike the Japanese probe, making it tilt on its axis. The impact was not serious enough to abort the mission, but on Earth there was much concern about even bigger particles that might destroy the other probes before they reached their objective. In the meantime, on March 6 and 9, he two Vega probes passed less than 9 000 kilometers from the nucleus: they ran into even smaller grains which still knocked them out of commission, breaking several antennas, damaging the solar panels which supply energy, and putting several instruments out of service. What would happen to the European probe that four days later should rendez-vous with this turbulent comet? Called Giotto because the great painter probably used Halley's comet as a model (during its passage in 1301) for the fresco of the adoration of the Magi completed a few years later in Padua for the Cappella degli Scrovegni, the last probe has the most difficult task: to pass only 600 kilometers from the nucleus and send the first truly close-up pictures of a comet to the Earth. The most eagerly awaited appointment occurred on the night between March 13 and 14; televisions around the world were connected for the live transmission from Darmstad, Germany, the headquarters of the Esa control center, the European Space Agency.
A real fleet of space robots was used to study Halley's comet: two Japanese probes (Suisei and Sakigake), two Soviet craft (Vega 1 and 2) and one European vehicle (Giotto). Their purpose: to get close to the celestial body in order to analyze the chemical composition of the gases emitted, their energy, the magnetic field, the brightness of the tail, the type and dimension of the solid particles present and even to photograph the nucleus, the most secret and mysterious part. All were launched slightly more than a year prior to the arrival of the comet to guarantee that there would be enough time to reach the rendez-vous point, 140 000 000 kilometers from the Earth. Each probe had a precise task to perform in the few days between March 6-13, 1986. The first thing they discovered is that the dust holds the greatest surprises. On March 8, the Suisei probe got to within 300 000 kilometers from the nucleus, but suddenly was struck by two particles weighing less than one milligram, but which are deadly because of the high speed with which they strike the Japanese probe, making it tilt on its axis. The impact was not serious enough to abort the mission, but on Earth there was much concern about even bigger particles that might destroy the other probes before they reached their objective. In the meantime, on March 6 and 9, he two Vega probes passed less than 9 000 kilometers from the nucleus: they ran into even smaller grains which still knocked them out of commission, breaking several antennas, damaging the solar panels which supply energy, and putting several instruments out of service. What would happen to the European probe that four days later should rendez-vous with this turbulent comet? Called Giotto because the great painter probably used Halley's comet as a model (during its passage in 1301) for the fresco of the adoration of the Magi completed a few years later in Padua for the Cappella degli Scrovegni, the last probe has the most difficult task: to pass only 600 kilometers from the nucleus and send the first truly close-up pictures of a comet to the Earth. The most eagerly awaited appointment occurred on the night between March 13 and 14; televisions around the world were connected for the live transmission from Darmstad, Germany, the headquarters of the Esa control center, the European Space Agency.
