@CometIntercept profile picture
CometInterceptor @CometIntercept

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

Joined December 2018
  • Tweets 259
  • Following 19
  • Followers 1,995
60 Photos and videos
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. ☄️
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ESA Science
@esascience
4 Mar 2024
#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 👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/… #SolarSystemExplorers
Infographic showing the structure of a comet on the left: plasma tail, hydrogen envelope, nucleus, dust tail, coma. On the right side, images of three different comets are inserted: comet 153P/Ikeya-Zhang, comet Hale-Bopp, comet NEOWISE

ALT Infographic showing the structure of a comet on the left: plasma tail, hydrogen envelope, nucleus, dust tail, coma. On the right side, images of three different comets are inserted: comet 153P/Ikeya-Zhang, comet Hale-Bopp, comet NEOWISE

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Rubin Observatory will Inspire a New Era in Space Missions Without Ever Leaving the Ground rubinobservatory.org/news/ne…

Rubin Observatory will Inspire a New Era in Space Missions Without Ever Leaving the Ground

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help scientists identify intriguing targets to prioritize for future space missions by detecting millions of new Solar System objects, and by revealing — in more detail...

rubinobservatory.org
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Herbert Gunell@HerbertGunell
1 Feb 2024
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.
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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. link.springer.com/article/10…

The Comet Interceptor Mission

Space Science Reviews - Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner...

link.springer.com
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ESA Science
@esascience
20 Jan 2024
⏰ ‘Wake up, Rosetta!’ youtube.com/watch?v=gihRDPg9… After spirited shouts from around the world, 10 years ago this day the @ESA_Rosetta ‘alarm clock’ went off to wake up the spacecraft👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/… ☄️🛰️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 👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/… #SolarSystemExplorers
Photo of screens at mission control showing the signal from a wide awake Rosetta.

ALT Photo of screens at mission control showing the signal from a wide awake Rosetta.

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Ambasciata di Spagna in Italia 🇪🇸🇮🇹
@EmbEspItalia
27 Nov 2023
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. 🚀
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The rocket for our mission - Ariane 6 - has yet to fly, but performed an important test on the ground today... 🚀
European Space Agency
@esa
23 Nov 2023
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. 🔗esa.int/Enabling_Support/Spa…
Backdropped by a cloudy Kourou sky, clouds of steam surround the Ariane 6 test vehicle during the hot-fire test on 23 November. The running engine can just be seen as a bright yellow spot at the base of the rocket.

ALT Backdropped by a cloudy Kourou sky, clouds of steam surround the Ariane 6 test vehicle during the hot-fire test on 23 November. The running engine can just be seen as a bright yellow spot at the base of the rocket.

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Our team have had a very productive Science Working Team meeting at @esa #ESTEC this week! @esascience
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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
11 Oct 2023
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. nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-…
Circular metallic instrument of concentric circles on aluminum foil, the TAGSAM head from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The outer ring contains many small circles containing small particles of black dust. The inner circle contains small rocks.

ALT Circular metallic instrument of concentric circles on aluminum foil, the TAGSAM head from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The outer ring contains many small circles containing small particles of black dust. The inner circle contains small rocks.

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ESA Science
@esascience
19 Sep 2023
🌞🌍🪐 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.
A graphic showcasing ESA’s space science exploration missions in the Solar System, including upcoming collaborative missions with partner agencies and missions of opportunity. The graphic indicates which missions are in development in the upper part, active in the middle and legacy at the bottom. The missions are also organised by their object of study, from the Sun to the far left to Neptune at the far right.

ALT A graphic showcasing ESA’s space science exploration missions in the Solar System, including upcoming collaborative missions with partner agencies and missions of opportunity. The graphic indicates which missions are in development in the upper part, active in the middle and legacy at the bottom. The missions are also organised by their object of study, from the Sun to the far left to Neptune at the far right.

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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! ☄️🛰️ sci.esa.int/web/cosmic-visio…

Call for a Fast (F) mission opportunity in ESA's Science Programme - Cosmic Vision - Science Portal

sci.esa.int
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ESA Webb Telescope
@ESA_Webb
26 Jun 2023
Replying to @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
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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
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Looking forward to presenting and discussing results from our mission at some future ACM meeting! #ACM2023 2/2
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ESA project scientist Michael Küppers presents an overview of our mission at the Asteroids Comets Meteors meeting in Flagstaff, AZ. #ACM2023
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Here is our newly-released official @esa @esascience mission logo!
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Katedra fyziky povrchů a plazmatu MFF UK@KFPPMFF
15 May 2023
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:
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Elizabeth Tasker@girlandkat
22 May 2023
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!

ALT crossfit games waiting GIF by CrossFit Inc.

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Observatoire de Lyon@obslyon
24 Apr 2023
☄ 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 ! ➡️ youtube.com/watch?v=9vNLIZjZ…
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