The Comet Nucleus Tour, or CONTOUR, mission launched from Cape Canaveral on
July 3, 2002. Six weeks later, on August 15, contact with the spacecraft was
lost after a planned maneuver that was intended to propel it out of Earth
orbit and into its comet-chasing solar orbit. Evidence suggests the
spacecraft split into several pieces, and so far all efforts to make contact
with CONTOUR have failed.

From http://discovery.nasa.gov/contour.html

Copyright 2002 NASA Discovery Program
Used by Permission

The reference is listed as N/A (not applicable) below because the mission
ended before any significant publications.

The CONTOUR mission was timed to encounter and study two very different
comets as they make their periodic visits to the inner solar system.

At each comet flyby, the spacecraft was to get as close as 60 miles (100
kilometers) to take high resolution pictures and perform a detailed
compositional analyses of both gas and dust in the near-nucleus environment,
as well as determine the comet's precise orbit. The science objectives are to
dramatically improve our knowledge of key characteristics of comet nuclei and
to assess their diversity.

The spacecraft was scheduled to flyby Comet Encke in November 2003 and Comet
Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 in June 2006. Encke is a very 'evolved' comet that has
maintained a stable and regular orbit for thousands of years.
Schwassmann-Wachmann-3 had a very predictable activity pattern until 1995
when it split into at least three pieces. It was of interest for this mission
because it is likely that evidence of the internal structure of the comet
would still be exposed when CONTOUR arrived. The mission also anticipated the
possibility of being retargeted to encounter a 'new' comet that has never
before been seen in this part of the solar system.

From http://discovery.nasa.gov/contour.html

Copyright 2002 NASA Discovery Program
Used by Permission