2002-034A
Contour, the Comet Nucleus Tour, is the 2002 Discovery mission. Its goal is to image comet nuclei at 4m resolution, and provide nuclear spectral maps at 100-200m resolution. It will also make composition measurements on cometary gas and dust. The APL-built probe is led by a Cornell University team.
Mass is 970 kg at launch - 387 kg dry, 503 kg Star 30BP S/N 074, 80 kg hydrazine. Size is a 2.0m dia, 2.0m long octagonal cylinder.
Contact was lost at solid motor firing. Three fragments were observed: A, B and C. A design error meant that the spacecraft overheated and key components were destroyed. B is a small 4 kg piece based on acceleration measurements. A had a mass of around 300 kg, and is probably the main bit of Contour.
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| Contour |
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| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
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| 2002 Jul 3 | 0647:41 | Launch by Delta 7425-9.5 |
| | | T+1:03 SRM 1-4 burnout |
| | | T+1:08 SRM 1-4 sep |
| | 0652:05 | T+4:24 MECO |
| | | T+4:32 Stage 1 sep |
| | 0652:18 | T+4:37 SES-1 |
| | | T+4:42 Fairing sep
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| | 0659:17 | T+11:36 SECO-1 | 185 x 197 x 29.7 |
| | 0746:11 | T+58:30 SES-2 |
| | 0746:15 | T+58:34 SECO-2 | 185 x 308 x 29.7 |
| | 0747:08 | T+59:27 St 2 sep |
| | 0747:47 | T+1:00:06 PAM-D burn 2921 m/s |
| | 0749:13 | T+1:01:32 TECO | 2423.6 90 x 106689 x 30.5 |
| | 0751:11 | T+1:03:30 St 3 sep |
| | 0751:13 | T+1:03:32 Yo weight sep |
| | | SES-3 depletion | 174 x 300 x 30.4 |
| 2002 Jul 4 | | Apogee 1 |
| 2002 Jul 5 | 0325 | Perigee 1 |
| 2002 Jul 6 | | Apogee 2 | 236 x 109000? |
| | 1644 | OCM-2, +3.8m/s, phasing period |
| 2002 Jul 6 | 2106 | Perigee 2 |
| 2002 Jul 7 | | Apogee 3 | 268 x ? |
| 2002 Jul 8 | 1458 | Perigee 3 |
| 2002 Jul 11 | 2018 | Perigee 5 OCM-4 +0.9m/s |
| 2002 Jul 18 | | | 217 x 108466 x 30.24 |
| 2002 Jul 20 | | | 231 x 108441 x 30.21 |
| 2002 Jul 23 | 2150 | OCM-5 +0.12m/s | 225 x 108484 x 30.26 |
| 2002 Jul 27 | | | 198 x 108481 x 30.56 |
| 2002 Jul 27 | 1202 | OCM6, 58s 3.0m/s at TRUE=148.5 | 197 x 108457 x 30.6 |
| 2002 Jul 28 | | | 230 x 108704 x 30.6 |
| 2002 Jul 30 | | | 246 x 108685 x 30.74 |
| 2002 Jul 31 | 1713 | OCM7 3.2m/s 63s lower perigee | 266 x 108645 x 30.7 |
| 2002 Aug 2 | | | 228 x 108610 x 30.5 |
| 2002 Aug 3 | 0715 | OCM8 Perigee 0.7m/s 18s at 12021 km, return to 1.75d | 242 x 108618 x 30.5 |
| 2002 Aug 5 | | | 238 x 109658 x 30.5 |
| 2002 Aug 6 | 1722 | OCM-9 0.22m/s to adjust time and C3 |
| 2002 Aug 13 | 1521 | Perigee |
| 2002 Aug 14 | 1206 | Apogee R = 115058 km |
| 2002 Aug 15 | 0849 | Perigee |
| 2002 Aug 15 | 0849 | Solar orbit injection with SRM, 50 s, 1.926 km/s planned |
| | | Actual dV 1.850 km/s |
| | | Loss of signal | 240 x -33995 x 30.6 |
| | | | 225 x -34869 x 30.98 (A) |
| 2002 Aug 15 | 1446 | C Pass EL1:4 |
| 2002 Aug 15 | 1450 | B Pass EL1:4 |
| 2002 Aug 15 | 1450 | A Pass EL1:4 |
| 2002 Aug 17 | 0400 | C leaves E/M SOI |
| 2002 Aug 17 | 0500 | A leaves E/M SOI | 225 x Inf x 30.97 |
| 2002 Aug 17 | 0500 | B leaves E/M SOI |
| 2002 Aug 18 | 0242 | C leaves Earth sphere 1.5Mkm |
| 2002 Aug 18 | 0342 | B leaves Earth sphere 1.5Mkm |
| 2002 Aug 18 | 0342 | A leaves Earth sphere 1.5Mkm |
| 2003 Jan 1 | | Fragment A | 0.876 x 1.131 AU x 8.71 |
| 2003 Jan 1 | | Fragment B | 0.875 x 1.132 AU x 8.72 |
| 2003 Jan 1 | | Fragment C | 0.871 x 1.129 AU x 8.91 |
| 2003 Aug 14 | 0800 | C within E/M SOI | 742000 x Inf x 37.45 |
| 2003 Aug 15 | 1329 | Fragment C flies 742000 km +/- 1.3Mkm from Earth |
| 2003 Aug 16 | 1333:12 | Fragment A flies 4926000 km from Earth |
| 2003 Aug 16 | 2000 | C leaves E/M SOI |
| 2003 Aug 17 | 0015 | Fragment B flies 6820000 km from Earth |
| planned |
| | | Star 30 cutoff | 225 x Inf |
| 2002 Aug 16 | | TCM-1 | 0.80 x 1.35 AU |
| 2003 Aug 15 | | Earth flyby 58000 km |
| 2003 Aug | | | 0.9 x 1.2 AU? |
| 2003 Nov 12 | | 2P/Encke flyby 100 km at 1.07AU from Sun |
| 2004 Aug 14 | | Earth flyby 40180 km |
| | | Orbit i = 12.0 | 1.0 x 1.0 AU x 12.0? |
| 2005 Feb 10 | | Earth flyby 218770 km |
| 2006 Feb 10 | | Earth flyby 30000 km |
| 2006 Feb | | | 0.9 x 1.1 AU? x 0? |
| 2006 Jun 18 | | 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 flyby at 0.95AU from Sun |
| 2007 Feb 10 | | Earth flyby 7600 km |
| 2007 Feb | | | 0.8 x 1.35 AU? |
| 2008 Feb 11 | | Earth flyby 19000 km |
| 2008 Aug 15 | | 6P/d'Arrest flyby at 1.35 AU from Sun. |
Payload:
- CRISP Contour Remote Imager/Spectrograph
- CAI Contour Aft Imager
- CIDA Dust Analyser
- NGIMS Neutral Gas Ion Mass Spectrometer