CometInterceptor

An European Space Agency mission, with key contributions from Japan, to visit a long-period comet or interstellar object. Launching in 2029!

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

It's 5 years to the day since @esa selected our mission as the top candidate for its 1st F-class mission. 🎉
After years of hard work, we continue to grow more excited as our 2029 launch approaches! Here are team members at the recent Science Working Team meeting at ESTEC. ☄️

[ESA Science @esascience]

#CometInterceptor will be the first mission to visit a pristine comet — one entering the inner Solar System for the first time 👋

Here are top 5 mysteries Comet Interceptor aims to solve:

🔎 What does such a comet look like up close?
☄️ How are pristine comets different from the comets we know?
💫 What was the early Solar System like?
🧬 What is the role of comets in the appearance of life on Earth?
🦕 Should we be worried about a comet striking Earth?

Find out more about each of these questions 👉 https://t.co/0gzF5R8nLF

#SolarSystemExplorers

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

Rubin Observatory will Inspire a New Era in Space Missions Without Ever Leaving the Ground
https://t.co/0aHtaXdZMC

[Herbert Gunell @HerbertGunell]

How big can a comet's bow shock get? We want to know, beause it affects space missions such as @CometIntercept , and also just because we want to know.
Niklas Edberg of @IRF_Space lead a team with @HansnKiruna , @charlottestalks and several others to answer that question.

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

Our open-access mission description paper, covering the science ☄️, instruments 📸, mission design 🚀, spacecraft 🛰️, and operations 📡 of @esascience @JAXA_en #cometinterceptor, is now available at Space Science Reviews. https://t.co/dqMzFPZLPX

[ESA Science @esascience]

⏰ ‘Wake up, Rosetta!’
https://t.co/AlB1jS1IjJ

After spirited shouts from around the world, 10 years ago this day the @ESA_Rosetta ‘alarm clock’ went off to wake up the spacecraft👉 https://t.co/Ps9pRnF125

☄️🛰️The comet-chaser was up & ready! What followed next, is history. One that is about to repeat, as Europe continues its exploration of these icy travellers.

#CometInterceptor will be the first to travel to an as-yet undiscovered comet, one that has never or rarely came to the inner Solar System before.

The three @CometIntercept spacecraft will fly alongside the chosen target, exploring it from different angles to create a 3D profile.

The mission is currently under development, scheduled to be launched in 2029. What will we learn about the first long-period comet we explore? 🤔

Learn more about the mission here 👉 https://t.co/94bSF3hqTO

#SolarSystemExplorers

[Ambasciata di Spagna in Italia 🇪🇸🇮🇹 @EmbEspItalia]

Il gruppo #Sener 🇪🇸 ha firmato un contratto con @OHB_SE 🇮🇹 come prime contractor per la progettazione e realizzazione della capsula spaziale per la missione @CometIntercept dell' @esa e che incontrerà, per la prima volta, una cometa mai entrata prima nel sistema solare. 🚀

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

The rocket for our mission - Ariane 6 - has yet to fly, but performed an important test on the ground today... 🚀

[European Space Agency @esa]

ESA’s new #Ariane6 rocket passed a major full-scale rehearsal today in preparation for its first flight, when teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stage’s engine, as it would fire on a launch into space.

🔗https://t.co/jZyyzlEaa5

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

Our team have had a very productive Science Working Team meeting at @esa #ESTEC this week! @esascience

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

It's an exciting time for small body space missions! Many congratulations to our colleagues on the #OSIRISREx mission for the fanatic haul of primitive material recently delivered to Earth. A wealth of scientific results awaits!

[NASA Solar System @NASASolarSystem]

Asteroids are the building blocks of our solar system, and this asteroid contains the building blocks of life. Our initial analysis of the 4.5-billion-year-old rocks from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by #OSIRISREx shows evidence of carbon and water.
https://t.co/Wg3Zq4dxBP

[ESA Science @esascience]

🌞🌍🪐 Arrr, our #SolarSystemExplorers help us make sense of our celestial abode, from graspin' the ways of our mighty star ‘n its ties to Earth, to venturin' forth to visit our neighboring planets, moons, and comets.

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

It's 5 years to the day since the @esa website below appeared online, inviting proposals for the agency's first F-class mission.
This led to the Comet Interceptor mission concept being born! ☄️🛰️ https://t.co/6tvpdvb8CA

[ESA Webb Telescope @ESA_Webb]

@NASA @esa Soon-to-become Webb's #BFFinSpace, @CometIntercept will bring complementary observations. It will target a comet from the outskirts of the Solar System from the vast Oort cloud 3/4

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

Looking forward to presenting and discussing results from our mission at some future ACM meeting! #ACM2023 2/2

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

It's been a great opportunity this week for members of the Comet Interceptor team, proposing consortium, and friends, to get together, at #ACM2023 1/2

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

ESA project scientist Michael Küppers presents an overview of our mission at the Asteroids Comets Meteors meeting in Flagstaff, AZ. #ACM2023

[CometInterceptor @CometIntercept]

Here is our newly-released official @esa @esascience mission logo!

[Katedra fyziky povrchů a plazmatu MFF UK @KFPPMFF]

Minulý týden ve Švédské Uppsale proběhl úspěšně test elektromagnetické kompatibility (EMC) některých vědeckých přístrojů pro misi Comet Interceptor a to včetně detektoru elektronů (LEES) na jehož vývoji se naše katedra podílí. Takto to během samotného testu vypadalo:

[Elizabeth Tasker @girlandkat]

Kasahara Satoshi talked @CometIntercept at #JpGU2023. This ESA-JAXA escapade will lurk in space for up to 4 years until a rare long distance comet swings by the inner Solar System. Such a visitor moves too fast for a new launch, but Comet Interceptor will be READY for a flyby!

[Observatoire de Lyon @obslyon]

☄ CONFÉRENCE EN VIDÉO
Notre nouvelle #conférence en #vidéo est disponible ! Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre (#LGLTPE) vous présente la mission #CometInterceptor (@CometIntercept) à laquelle elle participe. Objectif : visiter une #comète à longue période !
➡️ https://t.co/jvasc2yGun