Rosetta

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Rosetta was one of the most daring missions the European Space Agency has ever flown: the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, and the first to land on one. Launched on 2 March 2004, it faced a ten-year journey to reach comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, looping three times past Earth and once past Mars for gravitational boosts, flying by two asteroids, and then entering a deep, power-saving hibernation for nearly three years as it coasted far from the Sun. It woke on schedule in 2014, and on 6 August 2014 became the first spacecraft to enter orbit around a comet, finding 67P to be a startling, double-lobed 'rubber duck' of dark ice and dust. The mission's most dramatic moment came on 12 November 2014, when Rosetta released the small lander Philae to descend to the surface — the first ever attempt to land on a comet. Philae's anchoring harpoons failed to fire, and it bounced twice across the low-gravity surface before coming to rest in deep shadow, where its solar panels could barely charge; it returned about 60 hours of data before falling silent. Rosetta itself flew alongside 67P for over two years, watching the comet roar to life as it approached the Sun, jetting gas and dust. It found organic molecules, including the amino acid glycine, and water with a different composition from Earth's oceans. The mission ended on 30 September 2016 with a slow, deliberate descent onto the comet's surface.

1. 2004Launch toward comet 67PLaunch

   Begins a ten-year, gravity-assisted journey, including years of deep-space hibernation.

2. 2008Past the asteroid ŠteinsFlyby

   ESA's first asteroid flyby: a small, bright body shaped like a cut diamond.

3. 2010Asteroid Lutetia flybyFlyby

   Images a large main-belt asteroid during the long cruise to the comet.

4. 2014Orbits comet 67PArrival

   The first spacecraft to orbit a comet, finding a double-lobed 'rubber duck' of ice and dust.

5. 2014Philae lands on the cometLanding

   The first landing on a comet; Philae bounces into shadow but returns ~60 hours of data.

6. 201567P at its closest to the SunMilestone

   Rosetta watches the comet roar to life with jets of gas and dust at its closest to the Sun.

7. 2016Descent onto the cometMission end

   The mission ends with a slow, controlled landing on 67P's surface.

Images

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