19 MAY 1981

FIRST FLIGHT DYNAMICS SYMPOSIUM

ESOC invited the world to Darmstadt to share lessons on spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control.

14 MARCH 1986

GIOTTO ENCOUNTERS HALLEY'S COMET

Making encounters with comets Halley and Grigg–Skjellerup, Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. It imaged a comet nucleus for the first time and found the first evidence of organic material on a comet. The mission, flown by ESOC, was a resounding success.

9 AUGUST 1989

HIPPARCOS LAUNCH

Launched on a mission to measure the positions, distances, motions, brightness and colours of stars, Hipparcos' apogee boost motor failed. It was injected into a highly eccentric orbit instead of the intended geostationary orbit, but thanks to the flight control team at ESOC, the mission was later recovered.