Failed · Failure
NASA's CONTOUR was built to study and compare the interiors of two to three comets. Contact with the spacecraft was lost after an engine burn.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Delta 7425-9.5
- Launch site
- Cape Canaveral, Fla. / SLC-17A
- Countries
- United States
- Mission types
- Flyby
Chronology
Mission timeline
Milestone
Fragment A identified in optical observations
The navigation report dates the first images to August 16. Exact image epochs and their local/UTC date convention need the original optical table. This event is not a timed physical separation.
Milestone
Fragment B identified in optical observations
The navigation report dates the first images to August 16. Exact image epochs and their local/UTC date convention need the original optical table. This event is not a timed physical separation.
Milestone
Fragment C identified in optical observations
The navigation report dates the first images to August 16. Exact image epochs and their local/UTC date convention need the original optical table. This event is not a timed physical separation.
Mission architecture
Vehicles
CONTOUR · Spacecraft · lost
Destinations: 2P/Encke, 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, 6P/d’Arrest
CONTOUR fragment A · Other · Uncontacted fragment observed after the departure burn
CONTOUR fragment B · Other · Uncontacted fragment observed after the departure burn
CONTOUR fragment C · Other · Uncontacted fragment observed after the departure burn
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- CONTOUR before the departure burn: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data from JPL Horizons OD20A radio navigation, bounded at the reported departure-motor loss time. · August 13, 2002 to August 15, 2002
- CONTOUR fragment A: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data from JPL Horizons OD20A; its post-optical extension is separately marked predicted. · August 16, 2002 to August 31, 2003
- CONTOUR fragment B: Physically reconstructed based on publicly available data from JPL Horizons OD20B; its post-optical extension is separately marked predicted. · August 16, 2002 to August 31, 2003
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through September 13, 2026
- CONTOUR - NASA Science — NASAMission page · Supports: mission claims · destination/body context · event claims
- CONTOUR Mishap Investigation Board Report — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- CONTOUR spacecraft context, version 1.2 — NASATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Navigating CONTOUR Using the Noncoherent Transceiver Technique, AAS 03-204 — JPLTechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- CONTOUR preliminary geometric and attitude frames — NAIFTechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context