On this day in space! Sept. 11, 1985: The International Cometary Explorer makes 1st comet flyby in history for NASA and Europe

The first comet flyby was an afterthought for a spacecraft that finished a different mission, then was redirected to visit Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.

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Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter On Sept. 11, 1985, the International Cometary Explorer, or "ICE," became the first spacecraft to fly by a comet .

Originally launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 in 1978, ICE was one of three spacecraft built for the International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE) program, a joint effort by NASA, the European Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency.