chemistry

Giotto (spacecraft)

Giotto (spacecraft) is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Giotto (spacecraft) rather than just read about it. In short: Giotto is a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency. The spacecraft flew by and studied Halley's Comet and in doing so became the first spacecraft to make close up observations of a comet.

Key takeaways

Giotto (spacecraft) belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Giotto (spacecraft) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Giotto (spacecraft) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Giotto is a European robotic spacecraft mission from the European Space Agency. The spacecraft flew by and studied Halley's Comet and in doing so became the first spacecraft to make close up observations of a comet. On 13 March 1986, the spacecraft succeeded in approaching Halley's nucleus at a distance of 596 kilometers. It was named after the Early Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone. He had observed Halley's Comet in 1301 and was inspired to depict it as the star of Bethlehem in his painting Adoration of the Magi in the Scrovegni Chapel.

Mission

Development

Members of the ESA’s Solar System Working Group started investigating a mission to Halley’s comet in 1977 before rejecting it in August 1978 in favour of a lunar orbiter. Shortly afterwards this was reversed by the Science Advisory Committee and the ESA started to study a joint mission with NASA. This mission was to be the International Comet Mission consisting of a carrier NASA probe and smaller European probe based on the ISEE-2. The plan was for the American probe to release the European probe towards Halley for a close flyby before going on to explore Comet 10P/Tempel. The NASA probe was cancelled November 1979. Proposals then moved to an Ariane 1 launched mission with the first option considered being one suggested by Giuseppe Colombo. Named HAPPEN it involved using parts for a planned Geos-3 satellite to first examine the earth's Magnetotail before flying through the tail of Halley’s comet in March 1986. This was rejected 24 January 1980 by the Solar System working group for not offering to return enough information on Halley. In February 1980 it was proposed that the Ariane 1 launch two Geos based probes. One to examine the magnetotail and the other to target Halley’s comet. It was at this point the name Giotto name started being used. The proposal was approved by the Science Advisory Committee and then moved onto the Science program committee. The Science program committee initially rejected the mission in favour of the Hipparcos satellite while giving Giotto at chance for a second submission without the Magnetotail mission but with more extensive planning and a budget of 80 million accounting units. In July 1980 the committee approved the second proposal with a budget of 80 million accounting units. The Hipparcos program, while delayed, also continued. During March 1981 British Aerospace submitted its Geos based design to the ESA. This was rejected due to issues with power and temperature control. In the same period it was found that the Geos design had become outdated to the point where it was no longer possible to obtain parts. As a result a new and somewhat larger craft was designed although British Aerospace remained the primary contractor. Originally it was planned to launch Giotto on an Ariane 2 along with a commercial satellite. This was then shifted to an Ariane 3 before difficulties with finding a customer who wanted to fly during the launch window resulted in Giotto being assigned solo to an Ariane 1 which was available after EXOSAT was launched by a Thor-Delta. There were plans to have observation equipment on board a Space Shuttle in low-Earth orbit around the time of Giotto's fly-by, but they in turn fell through with the Challenger disaster. The plan then became a cooperative armada of five space probes including Giotto, two from the Soviet Union's Vega program and two from Japan: the Sakigake and Suisei probes. The idea was for Japanese probes and the pre-existing American probe International Cometary Explorer to make long distance measurements, followed by the Soviet Vegas which would locate the nucleus, and the resulting information sent back would allow Giotto to precisely target very close to the nucleus. Because Giotto would pass so very close to the nucleus there was a risk it would not survive the encounter due to the spacecraft colliding at very high speed with the many dust particles from the comet with estimates of its chances of survival ranging from around 90% to zero. The coordinated group of probes became known as the Halley Armada.

Design

The cylindrical spacecraft was 1.87 m in diameter 2.85m long. It had and had three internal platforms. Built by British Aerospace in Filton, Bristol, it carried a dust shield (Whipple shield) as proposed by Fred Whipple. The shield comprised a thin (1 mm) aluminium sheet separated by a space and a thicker (12 mm) Kevlar sheet. The later Stardust spacecraft would use a similar Whipple shield. Giotto also had a 1.51 m diameter antenna that it used to communicate with Earth. The craft was painted white using an electively conductive paint developed by Centre national d'études spatiales. A mock-up of the spacecraft resides at the Bristol Aero Collection hangar, at Filton, Bristol, England. The craft was equipped with a Mage motor made by Societe Europeenne de Propulsion.

Science Instruments Giotto had 10 science instruments.

MAG: a magnetometer HMC (Halley Multicolour Camera): a 16-cm telescope and camera DID (Dust Impactor Detector System): measured the mass of dust particles that hit the instrument RPA (Rème Plasma Analyser): studied solar wind and charged particles JPA (Johnstone Plasma Analyser): also measured solar wind and charged particles PIA (Particulate Impact Analyser): studied the size and chemistry of particles OPE (Optical Probe Experiment): examined the emissivity of gas and dust behind the spacecraft EPA (Energetic Particle Analyser): analyzed alpha-particles, electrons, and neutrons NMS (Neutral Mass Spectrometer): measured the composition of the particles around the comet IMS (Ion Mass Spectrometer): measured the amount of ions from the sun and the comet GRE (Giotto Radio Experiment): used Giotto's radio signals to study Halley's comet

Timeline

Pre launch The ESA took possession of the probe on 22 April 1985 and later that month it was flown to French Guiana minus its camera. The camera made the transatlantic trip on 17 May. A 22 day launch window existed starting 11:13 UTC 2 July. In the final minutes before launch the temperature of the probe started to drop below minus 20 centigrade due to being cooled by the rocket's liquid helium. This did not ultimately cause problems.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Giotto (spacecraft)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Giotto (spacecraft) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Giotto (spacecraft) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Giotto (spacecraft) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Giotto (spacecraft)

In research: Giotto (spacecraft) appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Giotto (spacecraft) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Giotto (spacecraft) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Derelict space probes, Earth flybys, European Space Agency space probes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Giotto (spacecraft) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Giotto (spacecraft) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Giotto (spacecraft) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Giotto (spacecraft) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Giotto (spacecraft) in simple terms?

Why does Giotto (spacecraft) matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Giotto (spacecraft)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Giotto (spacecraft).