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Cornell to lead $154 million NASA mission to conduct close-proximity comet fly-bys early in the next century

The Comet Nucleus Tour mission -- nicknamed Contour -- will be led by Joseph Veverka, Cornell professor of astronomy. The unmanned mission will take images and comparative spectral maps of at least three comet nuclei and analyze the dust and gas flowing from them. The mission's goals are to dramatically improve knowledge of the key characteristics of comet nuclei and to assess their diversity.

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CU’s Harch writes the programs that tell spacecraft what to do and where to go

While cold, autumnal winds whip across upstate New York, some 40 million miles away, a small spacecraft traveling at 60,000 miles per hour will pass within 62 miles of the rocky, icy nucleus of Comet Encke.

"With a speed like that," said Ann Harch, Cornell researcher in space sciences, "CONTOUR will be screaming by Encke."

Peter Thomas
Senior Research Associate

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Jim Bell
Assistant Professor

Photo: Robert Barker/Cornell University Photography Copyright © Cornell University A high-resolution copy of this photo (1500 x 993 pixels, 1.5MB) is available here.