On This Day In Space: Sept. 11, 1985: International Cometary Explorer completes 1st comet flyby

NeRD

On Sept. 11, 1985, the International Cometary Explorer, or “ICE” became the first spacecraft to fly by a comet. 

NASA’s Vintage ISEE-3 ICE Spacecraft in Pictures

Originally launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 in 1978, ICE was one of three spacecraft built for the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) program, a joint effort by NASA, the European Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency. 

An artist’s depiction of NASA’s International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft as it flies through space. The volunteer ISEE-3 Reboot Project, which hoped to move the probe closer to Earth, now says the spacecraft is out of gas. (Image credit: NASA)

Best Close Encounters of the Comet Kind

The program’s purpose was to study space weather, or the interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and the solar wind. After completing its original mission, the spacecraft did a maneuver to steer it toward Comet Giacobini-Zinner. It flew straight through the comet’s plasma tail, but it didn’t stop there! Six months later, it flew by Halley’s Comet, too.

On This Day in Space Archive!  

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