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The International Cometary Explorer mission to comet Giacobini-ZinnerThe International Cometary Explorer (ICE), scheduled to pass the tail of Comet Giacobini-Zinner on September 11, 1985, was expected to address first-order questions bout the interaction between solar wind and comets. Since ICE was not initially intended for comet studies, it did not have sun-sensitive imaging instruments designed to image the comet nucleus. In effect, ICE was free to pass through the tail of the comet. The ICE spacecraft, a 16-faceted cylindrical drum just over five ft high with a spin axis normal to the ecliptic plane, was designed to encounter the comet at a distance of 0.47 AU from the earth. Scientific instruments on board the spacecraft include: (1) the electron plasma experiment, (2) the vector helium magnetometer, (3) the plasma wave experiment, (4) the radio waves experiment, (5) the plasma ion experiment, (6) the low-energy cosmic ray experiment, and (7) the energetic protons experiment. Targeting error was expected as a result of solar-wind induced plasma tail wagging. Comet interception was planned to be at a distance of 10,000 km from the nucleus.
Document ID
19860050460
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Von Rosenvinge, T. T.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Brandt, J. C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
September 3, 1985
Publication Information
Publication: EOS
Volume: 66
ISSN: 0096-3941
Subject Category
Astronautics (General)
Accession Number
86A35198
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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