An ESA mission to an ancientworld an tomission ESA An Interceptor Comet Centre for Planetary Science at UCL/ at Science Planetary for Centre UCL UCL Mullard andthe Comet Interceptor Team Space Science Laboratory, UK Laboratory, Science Space University of of University Colin Snodgrass Colin Geraint Jones GeraintJones Edinburgh, UK Edinburgh, Birkbeck, UK Birkbeck,

Comet Interceptor Comet Interceptor Giotto

Comet Interceptor Halley’s nucleus from Giotto from nucleus Halley’s

Comet Interceptor ESA/Chrisan Stangl Rosetta

Comet Interceptor Institute Research Laboratory/Southwest Physics Applied University Hopkins NASA/Johns

Halley: Russian Academy of Sciences / Ted Stryk. Tempel 1 and Hartley 2: NASA / JPL / UMD. Borrelly: NASA / JPL / Ted Stryk. Wild 2: NASA / JPL. Montage by Emily Lakdawalla. Comet Interceptor 7 Why? or an interstellar object. - long targeting a is a mission Interceptor Comet • • • • System’s formation withcomet,surface ices asthe firstdownSolarlaid at Amission such anto wouldencounter object a fortheSun thefirst time dynamically A ontheir surfaces Targetswere relativelywith thick coatings evolved, of dust havepassed manytheSun times Allprevious cometmissions havebeen objectsthat to period period comet, preferably dynamically preferably comet, - new comet is one that is probably nearing nearing probably is that one is comet new - new, new, pristine

Comet Interceptor M.

Kr LSST Project/NSF/AURA ó likowska & P.& A. Dybczynski 2019, 2019, arXiv 1901.01722 • All p All • • • • How? Still notenough Still planspacecraftatime to build and the periodcomets foundevery willyear, but increase VRO/LSST mightnotincrease thenumber of long LegacyofTimeand Space Survey by increased Thelikelihood of this happening will soon be greatly direct a spacecraft to it inbound it withdiscover enough to warning to Theonly way encounter to longa periodcomet is distance at which at they’re inbounddiscovered theRubinVera– Observatory/LSST the

Comet Interceptor Solution: A Wait inWait A Solution: ╺ ╺ ╺ location 6 location Relatively rapid reaction to new discoveries (departure from parking to a stableLaunch ‘parking’ location in space geometries encounter comet of variety a with cope can that spacecraft The to way isencounter comet a new to design buildand a - 12 months after target discovery) Space 9

Comet Interceptor ESA F • • • • L2 point, in 2028 in point, L2 launchShared withAriel exoplanet telescope, Sun- to generallyinstrumentsfund theandscience teams. agencies collaborating other and states member ESA €150M. completion, Maximumat ESA to costexcluding launch: F-class mission OnJuly2018, call announced. • • during launch during Was to fit Ariel,tounderneath support be and designed it kg, Limits lower) now mass on 1000 (originally -class call -class Earth Earth

Comet Interceptor repeat of previous missions. A to mission short will period comet carry not out science: new • • • • • • Solutions Challenges < 5 < years5 Cost means that be entire should mission km/s> 70 worstin case Retrograde orbits mean flyby speeds could range of possiblespeeds trajectories encounter and a comets on to has Mission wide to encounter be designed comets identified, including 73P. 73P. including comets identified, If suitableno target found, backup short period Wait at limited L2 to years~3 equivalent Dustencounter. to thatshielding used Giotto on to antenna gain Earth athigh no geometries – encounter with range of cope can different Spacecraft design

Comet Interceptor • • • 12 encounter cruise Short fastandflyby of targetcometnear Earth’s distance from theSun; 2- Waitsfor to up Missionstable at Lagrange‘parked’ afterpoint launch L2 withAriel has to take place close to the ecliptic ecliptic the to close place take to has 3 years for new target discovery – the plane of Earth’s orbit

Comet Interceptor • 13 Targetbyground-adiscovered based observatorybased

Comet Interceptor • 14 Orbit computed and eclipticandcrossing computed Orbit point predicted

Comet Interceptor • 15 Comet Interceptor leaves L2 to intercept comet’s path comet’s intercept to leaves L2 Interceptor Comet

Comet Interceptor • 16 Encounterwithcomet close theecliptic to plane

Comet Interceptor ╺ ╺ ╺ ╺ ╺ ╺ Example – Example ~3 year cruise year ~3 wait year ~1.5 Target known before launch - VRO Real comet found ~3 years out dynamically bright previous on Based LSST LSST would have found it ~8 years out C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) Q4 C/2001 - new comet new

© 2004 by Carlos Vázquez Darias (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Comet Interceptor • • • Interstellartargets? statistics? Comet 2I/Borisov 2I/Borisov Comet negligiblechance of suitablea targetwithin 2- that LSST finds one accessible target in years.~10 Non (Seligman ‘Oumuamuastudy showed Laughlin& 2018) reached target(highly hyperbolic andbe discovered could orbit) Unlikelypossibility but occur, to exists an interstellarthat – a sign of promising discovery discovery promising of sign a 3 years NASA - ESO/ M.Kornmesser

Comet Interceptor Nucleus Science Goals 19

Comet Interceptor NeutralComa Science Goals 20

Comet Interceptor Dust Science Goals 21

Comet Interceptor Plasma Science Goals 22

Comet Interceptor • • • SpacecraftMultiple Architecture Separating safe / distant measurements and high risk / high gain close approaches Simultaneous coma + nucleus + particles & fields studies at different distances coma in variations space and time separate To • • • B2: B2: nucleus + coma coma B1: inner A: main spacecraft • • • • • • • • • • 3 axis stabilised Spin stabilised imaging coma + nucleus environment, Plasma it) hit actually to unlikely (but nucleus at Targeted In coma inner through pass to Targeted fail spacecraft other if even results ensure to payload Minimum communication + Propulsion spacecraft for other Datarelay distance) ('safe' km ~1000 at comet of sunward Passes - situ samplingsitu of + ions, coma nucleus imaging

Comet Interceptor ala A - Payload • • • • Dust, Field,Plasmaand Dust, (DFP) MIRMIS MANIaC CoCa • • • • • • • • • • LEES LEES FGM SCIENA plasma + E-field – COMPLIMENT DISC 6-20 2.5- 1- Rosina heritage spareFlight of 1.5µ 5µ – µ – electrons – magnetometers – dust impact sensor – m m thermal IR imager visible camera, based on TGO m – IR camera imaging channel – ions & energetic neutrals& ions energetic – massspectrometer coma coma gasses point spectrometer channel CaSSIS , with filter added wheel package CaSSIS

Comet Interceptor • • Payload – Payload • • Narrow Angle Camera Wide Angle Hydrogen Hydrogen Plasma Plasma suite • • • • • Few Few 30- ICA ICA MAG Hydrogen maps via Ly Re - 60deg, monochrome camera LAICA flight of PROCYON/ – metre – ion mass spec (time of flight of (time spec mass ion Imager Imager magnetometer Camera ( BepiColombo resolution resolution B1 ( – FUV FUV camera at closest approach, for 0.25s JAXA) - ⍺ , water production rate. rate. production , water heritage) )

Comet Interceptor • • • Payload Payload DFP OPIC EnVisS • • • • • COMPLIMENT – COMPLIMENT FGM – DISC visible Monochromatic sky whole scans stripe, ~180deg Narrowband B – – – forward looking camera looking forward coma mapping camera camera mapping coma – magnetometers magnetometers dust impact sensor – B2 and polarimetric imaging filters, imaging filters, polarimetric and plasma + E- camera field (TBC) field

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Comet Interceptor a single a flyby single coma fromnucleus and reveal structure3D of from three spacecraft cometary nucleus: views Multiple views of 31

Comet Interceptor • far happened so Whathas • • • June-July 2019: initial Concurrent June-JulyDesign 2019: FacilityESTEC study, Thiswill beusedas thebasis of theinvitation tenderfrom industry to to ESA feasible CDFESAstudies have established spacecrafta missionand design is that CDFSecondstudy November2019:

Comet Interceptor Comet Interceptor NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) Comet Interceptor http://www.cometinterceptor.space/ @ cometintercept

Comet Interceptor