Japanese Probe to Halley's Comet . Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Sakigake is a test spacecraft similar to Suisei (Planet-A). It flew by comet P/Halley on its sunward side at a distance of about 7 million kilometers (4.4 million miles) on March 11, 1986. ... Sakigake made an Earth swingby on January 8, 1992. The closest approach was at 23 hours, 8 minutes, 47 seconds Japan Standard Time with a geocentric distance of 88,997 kilometers (55,303 miles). ...