Giotto (spacecraft)

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Giotto

Artist's concept of Giotto spacecraft
Operator	European Space Agency
COSPAR ID	1985-056A
SATCAT no.	15875
Website	Official Site at ESA.int
Mission duration	7 years and 1 month (launch to deactivation)
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass	960 kg[1]
Power	196 W
Start of mission
Launch date	11:23:00, 2 July 1985 (UTC) (1985-07-02T11:23:00Z)
Rocket	Ariane 1
Launch site	Guiana Space Centre
End of mission
Deactivated	23 July 1992 (1992-07-23)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Heliocentric[2]
Eccentricity	0.17334
Perihelion altitude	0.73 AU
Aphelion altitude	1.04 AU
Inclination	2.09°
Period	304.6 days
Epoch	10 July 1992, 15:18:43 UTC
Flyby of Comet Halley
Closest approach	14 March 1986
Distance	596 km (370 mi)
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach	2 July 1990
Distance	22,730 km (14,120 mi)
Flyby of Comet Grigg-Skjellerup
Closest approach	10 July 1992
Distance	200 km (120 mi)
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach	1999
Distance	1,000 km (620 mi)
Legacy ESA insignia for the Giotto mission

Giotto was a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency. The spacecraft flew by and studied Halley's Comet and in doing so became the first spacecraft to make close up observations of a comet. On 13 March 1986, the spacecraft succeeded in approaching Halley's nucleus at a distance of 596 kilometers. It was named after the Early Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone. He had observed Halley's Comet in 1301 and was inspired to depict it as the star of Bethlehem in his painting Adoration of the Magi in the Scrovegni Chapel.