Champollion was revived under NASA's New Millennium ProgramasDeep Space 4 / Space Technology 4, again as a joint project of NASA and CNES. In this version, Champollion would be a stand-alone project consisting of an orbiter and a lander, with the focus shifted somewhat to engineering validation of new technologies rather than pure science.
As of March 1999,[1] the baseline mission was to launch in April 2003, reaching comet Tempel 1 in 2006. The sample return element of the mission was at this point contingent on sufficient funding/resources, possibly being replaced with a demonstration of related capabilities.
The lander was approximately 1.5m high weighing 160 kg; it was to autonomously navigate to the comet from 50 km altitude and anchor itself with a spike. The planned payload included:
The orbiter was to carry cameras and a dust monitor.
Later in 1999, Space Technology 4 was scaled back to a single spacecraft[2] with no sample return; it was cancelled entirely on July 1, 1999, due to budgetary constraints.[3]
Media related to Champollion (spacecraft) at Wikimedia Commons
