International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 / International Cometary Explorer
NASA’s ISEE-3 began as a Sun–Earth L1 heliophysics observatory, then was renamed the International Cometary Explorer and redirected to fly through the tail of comet Giacobini-Zinner in 1985, becoming the first spacecraft to fly past a comet; it later supplied solar-wind data during the Halley Armada and was retired from NASA operations in 1997.
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Identity
- Aliases
- ISEE-3ICEInternational Sun-Earth Explorer 3International Cometary Explorer
- Family Name
- ISEE-3 / ICE
- Full Name
- International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 / International Cometary Explorer
- Roles
- orbiterflybyobservatoryresearch
- Status
- retired
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- NASA’s ISEE-3 began as a Sun–Earth L1 heliophysics observatory, then was renamed the International Cometary Explorer and redirected to fly through the tail of comet Giacobini-Zinner in 1985, becoming the first spacecraft to fly past a comet; it later supplied solar-wind data during the Halley Armada and was retired from NASA operations in 1997.
- First Flight Year
- 1,978
- Last Flight Year
- 1,997
- Manufacturer
- Operator
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/isee-3-ice/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 15, 2026 at 07:32:49 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 10:27:18 UTC