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    ESA > About Us > Welcome to ESA > ESA history

    minigallery: Remembering Giotto

    Twenty-five years ago, during the night of 13-14 March 1986, the Giotto spacecraft swept within 600 km of Comet Halley, obtaining the first ever close-up images of a comet nucleus. Giotto was a pioneering space mission with a number of very impressive ‘firsts’ and achievements to its credit. Here we look back with a few 'behind the scenes' images.

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    Press conference at ESOC, 14 March 1986
    VIPs at the 30th ESLAB Symposium, Heidelberg, October 1986
    Giotto pioneers
    Giotto team members introduced to His Holiness Pope John Paul II
    Giotto encounters Halley's Comet 1986
    Giotto experiment platform
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    • History of Europe in space
      • Giotto, ESA's first deep-space mission: 25 years ago
      • Remembering Giotto
      • Space Science
      • ESA's comet chaser
      • A virtual tour of ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre
        A virtual tour of ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre
        ESOC
      • More about...
        • Giotto overview
        • Related articles
          • The birth of Giotto
            • Giotto’s brief encounter
              • Giotto’s second comet encounter
                • Giotto’s comet results
                  • The post-Halley era
                    • Life of a comet
                      • ESA observes Deep Impact from Earth
                        • Dust and gas from Comet 9P/Tempel 1 seen by ESA OGS

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