Comet Hopper

Comet Hopper

Concept art of Comet Hopper
Names	CHopper
Mission type	Comet exploration
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	Proposed (Cancelled): 7.3 years
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	UMD Lockheed Martin Goddard
Start of mission
Launch date	2016
Rocket	Atlas V
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, LC-41
Contractor	ULA
46P/Wirtanen lander
Landing date	2022
Instruments CHIRS CHopper Infrared Spectrometer CHIMS CHopper Ion/Neutral Mass Spectrometer CHI CHopper Imager CHEX CHopper Heating Experiment PanCams Panoramic Cameras
Discovery Program

Comet Hopper (CHopper) was a proposed lander to NASA's Discovery Program that, had it been selected, would have orbited and landed multiple times on Comet Wirtanen as it approached the Sun. The proposed mission was led by Jessica Sunshine of the UMD, working with Lockheed Martin to build the spacecraft and the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center to manage the mission.^[1]

The Comet Hopper mission was one of three Discovery Program finalists that received US$3 million in May 2011 to develop a detailed concept study.^[2]

The other two missions were InSight and Titan Mare Explorer. After a review in August 2012, NASA selected the InSight mission.^[3]

The CHopper mission had three primary science goals for the 7.3 years of its lifetime. At roughly 4.5 AU the spacecraft would have rendezvoused with Comet Wirtanen to map the spatial heterogeneity of surface solids as well as gas and dust emissions from the coma - the nebulous envelope around the nucleus of a comet. The remote mapping would also allow for any nucleus structure, geologic processes, and coma mechanisms to be determined. After arriving at Comet Wirtanen, the spacecraft would have approached and landed, then subsequently hopped to other locations on the comet. As the comet approached the sun, the spacecraft would land and hop multiple times to record surface changes as the comet became more active.^[1][4] The final landing would occur at 1.5 AU.

• Champollion (spacecraft)
• Mars Geyser Hopper
• Rosetta (spacecraft)
• Triton Hopper

Press Releases

• NASA Goddard Managed Comet Hopper Mission Selected for Further Study Archived 2021-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Comet Hopper, a UMD/NASA Goddard Proposal, Moves to 'Final Round' in NASA Selection Process

News Articles

• Maryland scientists vie for NASA missions