Mission will record details about the composition of the astral bodies and could be launched in 2028
British engineers are to start work on a new spacecraft that will lie in wait for passing comets then chase them down and map their surfaces in three dimensions.
Appropriately dubbed the “comet chaser”, the mission will not only record details of the comets’ contours, but also the composition of the dust and and gases released as they hurtle through the heavens.