The European Space Agency has selected a new mission that aims to investigate a wholly pristine comet, or one that has never visited the sun.
Because these objects are hard to spot until they’re already close to the sun, the idea is that the mission would launch without a specific target. Called Comet Interceptor, the mission would launch to a stable point in Earth orbit and then lie in wait for a fitting target.
The mission, led by ESA, will also include cooperation from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA. ESA plans to launch the mission in 2028, along with another, previously announced mission.
Space agencies have investigated comets before, from NASA’s 1999 Stardust mission to ESA’s Rosetta mission, which orbited Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from 2014 until 2016. Comets are highly prized as relics of the early solar system. By spending most of their time far from the sun’s heat ...
