Comet Interceptor (CI)
Launch Date:
2029
WEBSITE:
The Comet Interceptor mission is an ESA led mission with 3 spacecraft elements working together to perform the first close encounter to a long period comet. One spacecraft will make remote and in situ observations of the comet from afar, while two other spacecraft will be deployed to venture closer to the target, carrying complementary instrument payloads, to build up a 3D picture of the comet. NASA Goddard is supporting the development of the Multispectral InfraRed Molecular and Ices Sensor (MIRMIS) onboard this mission. The instrument is composed of three channels (NIR is a 0.9 to 1.7 µm hyperspectral imager, MIR is a 2.5 to 5 µm point spectrometers and the Thermal Infrared Imager TIRI is a 6 to 25 µm multispectral thermal mapper. These sensors target diagnostic spectral features of water, carbon dioxide, water ice, organics and several minerals and these measurements are critical to establish the thermophysical properties of the comet.