 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (March 2013) |
 Conceptual artwork of the CRAF spacecraft deploying a penetrator towards the nucleus of comet 22P/Kopff | |
| Mission type | Comet / asteroid exploration |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| Website | nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov |
| Mission duration | Cancelled |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Launch mass | 6,360 kg (14,020 lb)[1] |
| Dry mass | 2,060 kg (4,540 lb)[1] |
| Payload mass | 290 kg (640 lb)[1] |
| Power | 170 kilowatts[1] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | February 1996 Planned |
| Rocket | Titan IV(401)B/ Centaur-T |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral |
| Flyby of Earth | |
| Closest approach | July 1997 Planned |
| Flyby of 449 Hamburga | |
| Closest approach | January 1998 Planned |
| Rendezvous with 22P/Kopff | |
| Arrival date | August 2001 Planned |
The Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) was a cancelled plan for a NASA-led exploratory mission designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that planned to send a spacecraft to encounter an asteroid, and then to rendezvous with a comet and fly alongside it for nearly three years. The project was eventually canceled when it went over budget; most of the money still left was redirected to its twin spacecraft, Cassini–Huygens, destined for Saturn, so it could survive Congressional budget cutbacks. Most of CRAF's scientific objectives were later accomplished by the smaller NASA spacecraft Stardust and Deep Impact, and by ESA's flagship Rosetta mission.