Page "Halley's Comet" Paragraph 80

The development of space travel gave scientists the opportunity to study the comet at close quarters, and several probes were launched to do so.

The Soviet Vega 1 started returning images of Halley on 4 March 1986, and the first ever of its nucleus, and made its flyby on 6 March, followed by Vega 2 making its flyby on 9 March.

On 14 March, the Giotto space probe, launched by the European Space Agency, made the closest pass of the comet's nucleus.

There were also two Japanese probes, Suisei and Sakigake.

The probes were unofficially known as the Halley Armada.