ESA Giotto Children's Drawings Collection at the HAEU
The Historical Archives of the European Union, in cooperation with the European Space Agency, presents a selection of children`s drawings related to ESA`s Giotto Mission from its archival holdings.
In January 1986, the European Space Agency (ESA) opened the Giotto drawings competition all over Europe to children under age 10. The Agency wanted to encourage children of 1986 to imagine the near encounter of the ESA`s Giotto spacecraft with the Halley Comet. ESA received more than 20 000 illustrations and among them, they selected 25 winners. The drawings were stored at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, before they were transferred from their Communication Office to the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU).
`The Night of the Comet`
The Giotto mission was ESA`s first deep space mission. It was created with a purpose to capture and analyse the nucleus of Halley`s Comet. The Giotto spacecraft was transported to the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, in April 1985 for a planned two-month long launch campaign. Afterwards, Giotto lifted-off on an Ariane 1 launch V14 vehicle on 2 July 1985. The first images of the Halley Comet nucleus were obtained just a few months later. The night of 13-14 March 1986 became known by the international press of that time `The Night of the Comet`. The Halley Comet will be possible to see in the Earth`s skies again on 28 July 2061.
A Comet instead of the Bethlehem Star
In memory of the artist who provided the first ``scientific`` image of the Halley Comet, ESA named their spacecraft after Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). The Florentine artist was most likely fascinated by the beauty of that splendid star-like appearance, which he had seen in year 1301, when the Halley Comet appeared in the skies above him. He captured its beauty between 1301-1306 on the walls of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. His artistic interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem in the frescoes `The Adoration of the Magi` shows a bright golden tail that we call today the Halley Comet.
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