| International Cometary Explorer |
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Information AboutInternational Cometary Explorer |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT INTERNATIONAL COMETARY EXPLORER | |
| nasa probes | |
| artificial satellites currently orbiting sun | |
| comet---asteroid missions | |
| 1978 in space exploration | |
| inactive extraterrestrial probes | |
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ISEE-3 originally operated in a "halo" orbit about the L1 Libration Point . On June 10 , 1982 , after completing its original mission, ISEE-3 was renamed ICE and diverted from its halo orbit to perform a new mission. Using the gravitational instability of the Earth/Moon and Earth/Sun Lagrange Points , the spacecraft made a series of lunar orbits, making its closest pass on December 22 , 1983 . On June 5 , 1985 , ICE passed through the plasma tail of the Giacobini-Zinner Comet . Due to the nature of its original mission, ICE carried no cameras. It instead carried instruments for measurements of energetic particles, waves, Plasmas , and fields. In March 1986 ICE, along with Giotto , Vega 1 And 2 , Suisei and Sakigake , participated in rendezvous missions with Comet Halley . ICE was shutdown in May 1997 . It may be possible to capture the spacecraft in 2014 , when it again makes a close approach to Earth. If the craft is recovered, it has already been donated by NASA to the Smithsonian Institute . EXTERNAL LINKS |
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