Latest 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Stories
ESA Comet Halley, the originator of the Orionids meteor shower that lit up our skies last month – as they do every October – is seen here up close by ESA’s Giotto probe as it flew past the famous comet on 13–14 March 1986. Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. It swept within 600 km of Halley, obtaining the first close-up images of a comet. Comets are considered to be the primitive building blocks of the Solar System and likely helped to ‘seed’ Earth with water....
Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is en route to intercept a comet– and to make history. In 2014, Rosetta will enter orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoand land a probe on it, two firsts. Rosetta’s goal is to learn the primordial story a comet tells as it gloriously falls to pieces. Comets are primitive leftovers from our solar system's 'construction' about 4.5 billion years ago. Because they spend much of their time in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, comets are well...
The final command placing ESA's Rosetta comet-chaser into deep-space hibernation was sent earlier today. With virtually all systems shut down, the probe will now coast for 31 months until waking up in 2014 for arrival at its comet destination.Today's dramatic event marks the end of the hugely successful first phase of Rosetta's ten-year cruise and the start of a long, dark hibernation during which all instruments and almost all control systems will be silent.The deep sleep is made necessary...
On June 8, mission controllers will have the first opportunity to switch ESA's Rosetta comet-hunter into deep-space hibernation for 31 months. During this loneliest leg of its decade-long mission, Rosetta will loop ever closer toward comet 67-P, soaring to almost 1000 million km from Earth. Marking one of the most dramatic and distant stages of the probe's 10-year journey to rendezvous with Comet 67-P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, ground controllers at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations...
Do you use Twitter? Are you as intrigued by comets as we are? Then tell us 'Why comets are cool' and you might win a trip to ESA's operations center in Germany on 15 June to celebrate 25 years of cometary science at ESA.If you're fascinated by comets, you're not alone. For millennia, philosophers, poets, astronomers and kings have gazed up "” sometimes in terror, always in awe "” as comets streak across the heavens, appearing, it seemed, out of nowhere.They've been called harbingers of...
Ultra-light carbon-fiber rods used to stiffen a comet probe's legs are now being harnessed by a German manufacturer to boost the precision and efficiency of their laser cutters.Right now, the rods in question are on a collision course with a comet "“ literally.In 2014 ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will end a decade-long chase through space by catching up with Comet Churyumov"“Gerasimenko.It will orbit the comet and release its Philae lander to anchor itself to the icy surface. Carbon-fiber...
ESA's Rosetta mission needs to deliver its lander, Philae, to a site in the southern hemisphere of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, according to a new study of the comet's nucleus."Southern sites appear to be both the safest and the most scientifically interesting," said Jeremie Lasue, who presented the findings at the European Planetary Science Congress in Rome on Thursday September 23rd."Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a time capsule holding material from the birth of the Solar System. The...
What does a scientist do to visualize a space journey? Build a model, of course. A model of Europe's Rosetta comet-chaser made out of LEGO® blocks started out in this small way and has grown into a high-fidelity Rosetta Lander Education Kit.Engineering and art students of the University of Rome gathered yesterday to test the prototype of the Rosetta Lander Education Kit. Not only did they build the LEGO MINDSTORMS comet lander, they also learnt why ESA's mission is travelling all the way...
Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA's Rosetta mission has returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the Solar System.The flyby has been a spectacular success with Rosetta performing faultlessly. Closest approach took place at 18:10 CEST, at a distance of 3162 km. The images show that Lutetia is heavily cratered, having suffered many impacts during its 4.5 billion years...
On its way to a 2014 rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, with NASA instruments aboard, will fly past asteroid Lutetia today (July 10).The instruments aboard Rosetta will record the first close-up image of a metal asteroid. They will also make measurements to help scientists derive the mass of the object, understand the properties of the asteroid's surface crust, record the solar wind in the vicinity and look for evidence of an...
