Comet Nucleus Dust and Organics Return
A mission concept to retrieve a pristine sample from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
CONDOR, short for Comet Nucleus Dust and Organics Return, is a proposed mission that would bring back material from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Its goal is to examine how the Solar System formed and how rocky planets with habitable surfaces came together.
The concept was put forward in 2017 for NASA’s New Frontiers program’s fourth mission opportunity but was not chosen. If built and flown, CONDOR would have gathered at least 50 grams of material from the comet’s surface, digging down to 15 centimeters, and returned it to Earth for detailed lab work. The comet, 67P, was previously studied by the Rosetta mission from 2014 to 2016. The spacecraft design relies on a Lockheed-Martin A2100 bus and solar electric propulsion.
Alongside the sample return, CONDOR would carry a narrow-angle camera and a millimeter-wave radiometer to pick a sampling spot. It would also perform a gravity science experiment to see how 67P has changed since Rosetta’s visit. After surveying the comet, the sample collection would be a quick touch-and-go maneuver. The sample would be kept at or below -20 °C and sent back to Earth inside a capsule based on the Stardust design. The entire round trip would take about 12.4 years.
The science behind CONDOR addresses a key gap: while stars produce most elements (except hydrogen and helium), and ultraviolet starlight creates basic carbon-based molecules like CH, CH+, and C+, the link between these space-formed compounds and Earth’s prebiotic organic matter remains unknown. Only a well-preserved sample from the outer Solar System—one containing pristine organic compounds—can test ideas about Solar System formation and how rocky planets with habitable surfaces accreted.
- Sample mass
- ≥ 100 g
- Return trip duration
- about 12.4 years total from launch to Earth return
Lore & Background
CONDOR is a concept by a NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory team led by Christopher Guethe and M. Choukroun. The concept was proposed in 2017 to NASA's New Frontiers program to compete for their Mission 4, but it was not selected. Had it been developed and launched, CONDOR would collect and return a ≥ 50 g sample from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for detailed analysis in terrestrial laboratories. This comet was previously investigated by the Rosetta mission between 2014 and 2016. The CONDOR concept calls for a Lockheed-Martin A2100 bus with a solar electric propulsion system. In addition of performing a sample return down to 15 cm depth, it would carry a small payload comprising a narrow angle camera and a millimeter-wave radiometer to select a sampling site, and perform a gravity science investigation to compare changes of 67P since Rosetta. Following a survey for site selection, the sample retrieval would be a fast touch-and-go event. The sample would be stored at ≤ -20 °C and sent to Earth on a Stardust-based capsule for extensive analyses not yet possible by robotic spacecraft. The return trip is estimated to take 12.4 years.
Reader's Guide
The elements, except for hydrogen and helium, ultimately derive from stellar nucleosynthesis. The very basic chemical ingredients of life—the carbon-hydrogen molecule (CH, or methylidyne radical), the carbon-hydrogen positive ion (CH+) and the carbon ion (C+)—are the result, in large part, of ultraviolet light from stars. Complex molecules, including organic molecules, form naturally both in space and on planets. Links between these materials and Earth's prebiotic organic matter are unknown, and can only be probed on samples that contain pristine organic compounds. This mission would provide the first well-preserved sample from the outer Solar System to test ideas regarding Solar System formation, and accretion of rocky planets with habitable surface environments.
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