Best Halley

Launched by Japan in 1985, Sakigake was the nation's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first of two probes to observe Halley's Comet during its 1986 inner solar pass.

Vega 1 was a Soviet space probe launched in December 1984 to study Venus and Halley's Comet. In June 1985, the spacecraft deployed a descent module containing a lander and an instrumented balloon into the atmosphere of Venus. Following this successful deployment, the main spacecraft continued its jo...

Vega 2 was an unmanned Soviet space probe launched in December 1984 as part of the Venera-Halley program. The mission successfully deployed a descent lander and an instrumented balloon into the atmosphere of Venus in June 1985 before using a gravity assist to fly past and photograph Halley's Comet i...

Giotto was a European Space Agency spacecraft launched in 1985 to investigate Halley's Comet during its 1986 return to the inner Solar System. It passed close to the comet's nucleus and returned the first detailed images showing a dark, irregular solid body emitting jets of gas and dust. Despite dam...