| During the encounter
with Halley's comet, the spin axis was
aligned with the relative velocity vector.
The 1.5 m dish antenna, operating in the
X-band, was inclined and despun in order
to point at the Earth (44 degrees with
respect to the velocity vector). The goal
was to come within 500 km of Halley's
comet at closest encounter. The actual
closest approach was measured at 596 km. .....The main body
of Giotto was a short cylinder 1.85 m in
diameter by about 1.1 m in length, with
three interior platforms. The top
platform, 30 cm thick, a main platform,
40 cm, and an experiment platform, 30 cm.
Each platform consisted of a disc within
the cylinder on which was mounted
subsystem and science apparatus. The
cylinder was topped by a tripod which
surrounded a high gain dish antenna and
gave the spacecraft a total height of 2.85
m. The main rocket was positioned in the
center of the cylinder with the nozzle
protruding out the bottom.
|
