| Description: | ESA's first deep space mission, Giotto, was designed to help solve the mysteries surrounding Comet Halley by passing as close as possible to the comet's nucleus on March 13th 1986. Unfortunately, this add-on does NOT show that encounter. This package displays Giotto beginning on December 13, 1996. The purpose of the add-on is to show how the craft's orbit was modified during its encounters with the Sun and the Earth. In 1999 it passed within 250,000 kilometers of the earth, and the enclosed XYZ trajectory shows how Giotto's orbit was modified by the Earth's gravity, before and after the flyby. Note that your Celestia Solar System browser will display 3 separate entries for Giotto after installation of the add-on. There's one entry for each phase of the spacecraft's orbits. |
