Vega mission

Either of two spacecraft missions, sponsored by the USSR, France, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. The main scientific goals were to study Venus by means of balloons and landers and to fly by Halley's comet. Vega 1 and Vega 2 were launched in 1984 (Dec. 15 and Dec. 21 respectively), flew past Venus on June 11 and June 15 1985, and used the gravitational assistance of that maneuver to fly by Halley on Mar. 6 and Mar. 9 1986 at miss distances of 8890 and 8030 km. The massive three-axis-stabilized TV systems on board unfortunately produced rather blurred images of the comet's nucleus. The dust mass spectrometers and dust detectors were, however, particularly successful. Results from the Vega mission enabled ESA to target the Giotto mission more accurately.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

References in periodicals archive

After the Proba-V Earth observation satellite, injected into Sun-synchronous orbit on the second Vega launch, and IXV, injected into a ballistic trajectory for a demonstration mission on the fourth launch, this coming autumn Lisa Pathfinder will be sent towards the Lagrange L1 point for a scientific mission on the sixth Vega mission.

Vega successfully launches IXV

Also unlike the Vega mission, on May 2 the night was beautiful, clear, with no clouds and a full moon --which increased the threat because "the Serbs knew we were coming," noted one crewmember, and enjoyed better visibility of the rescue force.

Team sport, combat search and rescue over Serbia, 1999

"The dynamics of super-rotation are still a puzzle despite a wealth of data from landmark missions such as NASA's Pioneer Venus, Russia's Venera and VEGA missions, NASA's Magellan and more recently ESA's Venus Express," Widemann explained.

Mysterious Arc of Venus hoped to appear during transit

But the diplomatically phrased bill asked him only to "endeavor" to renew it, "at the earliest practicable date." The scientists remain frustrated, even though some of them are participating -- under unofficial arrangements set up among individuals -- in the Soviet Vega missions to Comet Halley.

Space cooperation: a growing issue

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.