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| Small Bodies Mission Support |
The Vega mission combined a rendezvous with comet Halley and an exploration of the atmosphere of Venus. To increase the reliability and the overall return of the science data, the mission consisted of two spacecraft, Vega 1 and Vega 2. They were launched on 15 and 21 December 1984, respectively. On 11 and 15 June 1985, they successfully delivered balloons into the Venus atmosphere. The two spacecraft then successfully encountered Halley on 6 and 9 March 1986. Their closest approaches were 8.89 km and 8.03 km, respectively. They were intended to measure the physical parameters of the nucleus, such as dimensions, shape, temperature and surface properties, as well as to study the structure and dynamics of the coma, the gas composition close to the nucleus, the dust particles' composition and mass distribution as functions of distance to the nucleus and the cometary-solar wind interaction. Spacecraft operations were discontinued a few weeks after the Halley encounters.
The NSSDC has a webpage with more mission information. The SBN also has data sets from the Vega 2 mission in its archives.
The SBN is the PDS node leading the efforts to restore and archive the data from the small body missions such as the Vega 1 mission.
| Instrument/Investigation | What was measured | Available SBN Data |
|---|---|---|
| Television System (TVS) | Dimensions and albedo of nucleus and dynamics of central part of coma | TVS, from IKI TVS, Processed from KFKI |
| Infrared Spectrometer (IKS) | Radiation from the inner coma | IKS, from IKI IKS, Processed |
| Three-Channel Spectrometer (TKS) | Composition of coma and tail, polarization and spectrum of light component diffused by dust, primary molecules, spectral signature of nucleus | none |
| Shield Penetration Detector (PHOTON) | Flux density of high-mass dust particles | none |
| Dust-Particle Counter and Mass Analyzer (DUCMA) | Count rate and mass distribution of dust particles in cometary environment | DUCMA |
| Dust-Particle Impact Plasma Detector (SP-1) | Flux and mass distribution of the dust particles | SP-1 |
| Dust-Particle Impact Detector (SP-2) | Flux and mass distribution of the dust particles | SP-2 |
| Dust Mass Spectrometer (PUMA) | Chemical composition, size and spatial density of solid particles | PUMA, from IKI PUMA, Processed from MPI |
| Neutral-Gas Mass Spectrometer (ING) | Distribution of main and secondary constituents of cometary atmosphere | none |
| Plasma Energy Analyzer (PM-1) | Solar wind parameters, density and chemical composition of ion population | PM-1 |
| Energetic Particle Analyzer (TN-M) | Energy and flux of cometary ions | TN-M |
| Magnetometer (MISCHA) | Magnetic field | Cruise, Fly-by |
| Plasma-Wave and Ion-Trap Experiment (APV-N) | Interaction between solar wind and cometary atmosphere | none |
| Electric-Field and Langmuir-Probes Experiment (APV-V) | Solar wind-comet interaction, mass loading, plasma-density and temperature profiles and signatures of collision-free shocks | none |
| Instrument/ Investigation Description | Target | SBN Archieve |
|---|---|---|
| TVS | 1P/Halley | IHW data, from IKI ( description , data ) |
| IHW data, Processed from KFKI ( description , data ) | ||
| IKS | 1P/Halley | IHW data, from IKI ( description , data ) |
| IHW data, Processed ( description , data ) | ||
| DUCMA | 1P/Halley | International Halley Watch data ( description , data ) |
| SP-1 | 1P/Halley | International Halley Watch data ( description , data ) |
| SP-2 | 1P/Halley | International Halley Watch data ( description , data ) |
| PUMA | 1P/Halley | IHW data, from IKI ( description , data ) |
| IHW data, Processed from MPI ( description , data ) | ||
| PM1 | 1P/Halley | International Halley Watch data ( description , data ) |
| TN-M | 1P/Halley | International Halley Watch data ( description , data ) |
| MISCHA | 1P/Halley | IHW Cruise, Processed ( description , data ) |
| IHW Fly-by ( description , data ) | ||
| Original IHW submission (poor quality) ( description , data ) |
| Target | Target Type | Other Data Sets Targeting this Object |
|---|---|---|
| 1P/Halley | Comet | International Halley Watch CDROM archive |