How a single spacecraft encounter redefined our understanding of comets

Space · Published 11 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Relive the historic night of 13-14 March 1986, when the Giotto spacecraft flew within 600 km of Comet Halley to capture the first close-up images of a comet nucleus.

This film commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Giotto mission's encounter with Comet Halley. The mission provided groundbreaking evidence of organic material within the comet, and much of our modern knowledge regarding cometary composition remains rooted in these pioneering observations.

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