New Hampshire Astronomical SocietySeptember 11th in Astronomy and Space Science
 | 1985 | The ICE spacecraft flies through the plasma tail of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. Originally launched as ISEE-3 (International Sun-Earth Explorer 3) in 1978, its mission was investigating the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. In 1982 the spacecraft was sent through a complex series of Earth and Moon gravity assists to place it on a new trajectory for comet Giacobini-Zinner. It was then renamed ICE (International Cometary Explorer). |
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