GIOTTO

Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. In 1986, it passed closest to the nucleus of a comet, Halley. Its images showed for the first time the shape of a comet nucleus and found the first evidence of organic material in a comet. In 1992, after a long cruise through space, Giotto was directed to Comet Grigg–Skjellerup. It sent back a lot of information, passing just 200 kilometers from the nucleus.