The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) passed through the tail of comet Giacobini-Zinner (G-Z) on September 11, 1985. During the comet encounter, the ICE solar array was exposed to an environment consisting of hypervelocity cometary dust particles. This paper presents the pre-encounter calculations which provided verification that the ICE solar array would survive the comet encounter. The potential for damage to the ICE solar array by impacts from hypervelocity particles was examined for prospective closest-approach trajectories in the range of 1000 km to 10000 km. The actual closest-approach trajectory was 8000 km from the nucleus of the comet. The ICE solar array experienced negligible degradation in performance during the encounter with comet G-Z.
International Cometary Explorer solar array performance during the encounter with comet Giacobini-Zinner
Sonnenbatterie-Leistung des International Cometary Explorers bei der Begegnung mit dem Kometen Giacobini-Zinner
1987
4 Seiten, 2 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 5 Quellen
Conference paper
English