Giotto Spacecraft Full Scale Model
Giotto Spacecraft Full Scale Model
Giotto was ESA's first deep-space mission. Its destination was Halley's Comet, which is a short period comet visible from Earth every 75 years. The appearance of Halley’s Comet in the night sky has been observed for thousands of years. In 1301 it inspired the Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone so much he included it in his painting 'The Adoration of the Magi'. The mission is named after the artist and was designed to investigate the comet on its closest passage to the Sun (perihelion) in 1986.Giotto flew within 600 kilometres of Halley’s surface, taking the first ever close-up images of a comet nucleus. The spacecraft was not expected to survive this encounter, but amazingly Giotto's instruments remained intact enough to extend the mission to intercept a second comet. It completed a fly-by of the comet Grigg-Skjellerup in 1992, becoming the first spacecraft to visit two comets. This time Giotto flew only 200 kilometres from the comet’s nucleus, which at the time was the closest comet fly-by.
More information
Object number
2000-48
Location
Rocket Tower Level 4
Has this object been into space?
No
Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit
Depth: 2.36m
Height: 2.25m
Width: 2.36m
Material
Metal
Plastic
Associated Organisation
Astrium
Object Production Date
Circa 1985
Object Production Organisation
Astrium
On Display Status
On display
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