Rosetta and Philae, comet orbiter/lander robotic spacecraft, European Space Agency

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European Space Agency

esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta

rosetta.esa.int

dlr.de/en/rosetta

Rosetta blog - blogs.esa.int/rosetta

facebook.com/RosettaMission

twitter.com/ESA_Rosetta

twitter.com/Philae2014

Rosetta on Wikipedia

Philae on Wikipedia

Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft built and launched by the European Space Agency to perform a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It is part of the ESA Horizon 2000 cornerstone missions and is the first mission designed to both orbit and land on a comet.

"Ambition", scy-fi short film, Tomek Baginski, 2014, Poland

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Rosetta's view of Lutetia, July 2010

Published on Jun 13, 2012

This movie shows a sequence of images taken as ESA's Rosetta spacecraft flew past the main-belt asteroid (21) Lutetia, during the spacecraft's 10-year journey towards comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The flyby took place on 10 July 2010, when Rosetta flew past the asteroid at a distance of 3168.2 km and at a relative speed of 15 km/s. The first image shown in the sequence was taken nine and a half hours before closest approach, from a distance of 500 000 km to Lutetia; the last image was taken six minutes after closest approach, at 6300 km from the asteroid.

The OSIRIS camera on board Rosetta has surveyed the part of Lutetia that was visible during the flyby - about half of its entire surface, mostly coinciding with the asteroid's northern hemisphere. These unique, close-up images have allowed scientists to study the asteroid's surface morphology, composition and other properties in unprecedented detail.

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Rosetta's twelve-year journey in space

Published on Oct 14, 2013

This animation tracks Rosetta's journey through the Solar System, using gravity slingshots from Earth and Mars to reach its final destination: Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. Rosetta made three flybys of Earth, on 4 March 2005, 13 November 2007 and 13 November 2009, and one of Mars, on 25 February 2007. Rosetta has also visited two asteroids, taking extensive close-up images of 2867 Steins on 5 September 2008 and 21 Lutetia on 10 July 2010. Once the spacecraft is woken up from deep space hibernation on 20 January 2014, it will head for rendezvous with the comet in May. In November the Philae probe will be deployed to the comet surface. Rosetta will follow the comet to its closest distance to the Sun on 13 August 2015 and as it moves back towards the outer Solar System. The nominal mission end is December 2015.
Credits: ESA

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Rosetta with the comet lander 'Philae' / Mission Rosetta mit Kometenlander "Philae"

Published on Nov 26, 2013

The comet lander 'Philae' has been flying through space since 2 March 2004, and is awaiting its arrival at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in sleep mode. It will be landing on unknown territory: the exact landing site will only be decided upon by the scientists once the Rosetta spacecraft arrives at the comet, and with the help of the first camera images

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How ESA's ROSETTA Comet Probe Wakes Up in Deep Space

Published on Dec 11, 2013

This computer animation shows how the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft wakes up from deep space hibernation on 20 January 2014. The spacecraft is headed for a 2014 rendezvous with the Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko.

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Wake up!

Published on Jan 7, 2014

At 10:00 UTC on 20 January 2014, ESA's comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft will wake up from 31 months in deep space hibernation.