Comet is highly active and therefore target of scientific significance for space probe; it has retrograde orbit, however, and flyby missions will yield very limited amount of information; rendezvous involving realistic propulsion requirements is possible only if planetary gravity fields are used to modify trajectory of space probe; study shows that launch opportunities for missions that will rendezvous with Comet in 1985, from 150 to 300 days before perihelion passage, occur in fall of 1973, 1974, 1977, and 1978; total mission time, therefore, runs from 8 to 13 yr and total required velocity increments vary between 23.4 km/sec (77,000 fps) for early, and 26.8 km/sec (88,000 fps) for late opportunities.
Rendezvous with Halley's comet in 1985-1986
J Spacecraft Rockets
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 5 , n 3
1968
7 pages
Article (Journal)
English
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A rendezvous with Halley's comet in 1985-1986
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