Giotto's second encounter: The mission to comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup

Abstract

The second highlight in the life of the Giotto spacecraft, which was originally designed for a short 8-month lifetime, occurred on 10 July 1992. The main mission was to explore and photograph Halley's Comet; however, not only did Giotto survive the harsh environment around the comet Halley but is was also able, after more than 7 years in orbit around the Sun, to pass within about 200 km of a second comet, P/Grigg-Sjellerup, to provide exciting scientific measurements about the environment close to the comet. Various aspects of the Giotto Mission, spacecraft instruments, measurements, measurement techniques, and the encounter with comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup are presented.