Öpik–Oort cloud Comet Interceptor and its OPIC instrument

The Space Travel Blog post published by our co-founder Andris Slavinskis explains why the ESA Comet Interceptor mission is scientifically important, where its novelty and challenges lie.

OPIC development, testing and maturation

How can we develop and test algorithms for a one-off event, such as the B2 flyby of a yet-unknown Öpik–Oort cloud comet? UT Tartu Observatory and Aalto University have developed multiple tools to prepare for this. The observatory’s Space Technology Department, led by Pajusalu, now includes an underground Space Bunker, which has a long rope that can be used to provide a physical simulation of the OPIC flyby and the image acquisition process with flight-realistic hardware. The Space Imaging Simulator for Proximity Operations, or SISPO, is a cooperation between Tartu and Aalto, which allows for photorealistic mission design and simulation.

With the target unknown, we can generate hundreds, or even thousands, of digital flyby simulation datasets that look like the real mission imagery. These physically and digitally simulated datasets are provided to teams in Finland, Estonia and Latvia developing on-board algorithms. So before a suitable target is found, we hope to have simulated something very similar already and that the on-board algorithm would return the most useful scientific data set, before a primordial dust particle hits the brave OPIC periscope. Effectively, we’re designing a periscopic imager that will be killed by the very comet it is targeting.

The header image is an artist's impression of Comet Interceptor. Credit: Geraint Jones, UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

Read the full article on Space Travel Blog.