What Does CONTOUR Stand For?

CONTOUR stands for Comet Nucleus Tour

CONTOUR, or Comet Nucleus Tour, is a NASA space mission designed to study the nuclei of comets to enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of these icy bodies in the solar system. Launched in 2002, CONTOUR aimed to perform close-up observations of multiple comets, providing valuable data on their composition, structure, and behavior, ultimately contributing to our knowledge of the early solar system and the processes that shaped it.