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European 'comet chaser' probe to be designed in UK Design work will soon begin in the UK on the spacecraft for a new European Space Agency science mission, which will 3D-map a comet for the first time From: Credit: Thales Alenia Space Thales Alenia Space, who have three sites in the UK and employ nearly 200 highly skilled engineers and scientists, have won one of two parallel mission study contracts for the design concept of the mothership and a smaller robotic probe for the European Space Agency (ESA) Comet Interceptor mission. Design work is also taking place in Italy. The missi...

UK government backs 3D mapping Comet Interceptor probe Thales Alenia Space have won the contract to design the mother ship for the Comet Interceptor mission, which will see one main spacecraft and two smaller robotic probes travel to an as-yet unidentified comet, and map it in three dimensions. The smaller probes (30cm in length) will be built by the Japanese Space Agency. For the mission, once in space, Comet Interceptor will wait in a parking orbit until a suitable target has been spotted by astronomers. As its name suggests, the Comet Interceptor will then set out on an intercept course. I...

15th December 2020 10:33 am 15th December 2020 10:33 am A spacecraft tasked with lingering in space to intercept a pristine comet is to be designed by Thales Alenia Space in the UK.  Artist’s impression of Comet Interceptor (Image: Thales Alenia Space) The company has been awarded a contract to design the mothership for ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission, which will see one main spacecraft and two smaller robotic probes travel to an as-yet-unidentified comet to map it in three dimensions. Comets contain information about the formation of the Solar System 4.6 billion years ago. Unlike pr...

British engineers are set to build a spacecraft that will track down and 'ambush' comets in order to study them in unprecedented detail. The mission, dubbed the 'comet chaser', will feature three main components, a mothership built by a company called Thales Alenia Space based in the UK, and two robotic probes which will be manufactured by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).  Astronomers hope the highly-detailed 3D-scans of the space rock's surface will reveal secrets about the formation of comets and the early universe.  Scroll down for video   This graphic shows how the spacecraft (blur...

U.K. to Build Spacecraft to Chase, Map Comet From Distant Space Alex Morales, Bloomberg News (Bloomberg) -- U.K. engineers will soon begin work on a comet-chasing spacecraft that will track down and map one of the celestial objects in three dimensions. Thales Alenia Space, with three sites in the U.K., have won the contract to design and build the mother ship for the European Space Agency’s 150 million-euro ($182 million) Comet Interceptor mission, the U.K. Space Agency said on Monday in an emailed statement. Scientists aim to unlock the secrets of the early evolution of the solar system...