Giotto was a spacecraft of the European Space Agency, and its first deep space mission, named after the Italian painter who depicted a comet in a fresco, probably inspired by the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1301. It was launched on an Ariane rocket and flew past Halley's Comet in March 1986, passing within about six hundred kilometers of its nucleus. Cameras on board returned the first close-up images of a comet nucleus, which turned out to be dark and irregular, with jets of gas and dust. Dust impacts damaged the spacecraft and the camera, but Giotto survived, and after being reactivated it flew by a second comet, Grigg–Skjellerup, in 1992.
Before and after
- 14 June 1985Schengen Agreement
- 21 June 1985Birth of Lana Del Rey
- 29 June 1985Founding of Roque de los Muchachos Observatory
- 30 June 1985Birth of Michael Phelps
- 2 July 1985Launch of Giotto
- 13 July 1985Live Aid
- 31 August 1985Birth of Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud
- 1 September 1985The wreck of the Titanic is found
- 9 September 1985Birth of Luka Modrić
More in Universe & space
- 4 October 1957Launch of Sputnik 1
- 20 August 1977Launch of Voyager 2
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Galatea
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Hydra
- 10 September 2005Discovery of Dysnomia
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.