We are now hours away fromESA ’s Rosetta spacecraft ’s rendezvous with Comet 67p / Churyumov - Gerasimenko . This link has been a farsighted time coming , as the probe was launched in March 2004 and has been on a 6.4 billion kilometer ( 4 billion mile ) journey ever since .
Rosetta ’s missionary work is the first of its variety , as no other spacecraft has orbit a comet ’s core group . It will also play along the comet as it head toward the inner Solar System in orderliness to empathise how the Sun affects comet . The spacecraft has12 instrumentsto image and analyze the comet ’s nucleus to observe out more about the core as well as the gas and particles that are being throw off from the Earth’s surface . It is hoped that understanding this mission will not only give us deeper insight into the frame and physical composition of a comet , which belike has constitutive molecules like carbon , oxygen , nitrogen , and hydrogen . Because these are the ingredient of amino acids and nucleic dot , this mission could give insight into the origin of sprightliness .
Once Rosetta reach the comet and bewilder into place , it will be launching alander . This will be the first time a manmade object has made a controlled connection with a comet . Gravitational forces are n’t enough to keep the lander on the comet , so it will employ harpoon - style anchors immediately after it touches the surface . The lander will take images of the comet ’s control surface , use a legion of sensors so as to dissect the comet ’s paper , and will even exercise 20 cm down and analyze the samples microscopically .
As Rosetta has been approaching the comet , it has been place back some awe-inspiring images . The images that will be obtain during the mission will be at a much gamey resolution , but this is a prettyfantastic trailer !
Image taken August 2 from a distance of 500 klick ( 310 mi ):
Credit : ESA / Rosetta / NAVCAM
prototype take August 3 from a distance of 300 km ( 190 mile ):
Image use up August 4 from a space of 234 kilometer ( 145 miles ):
If you ’d wish to watch this rendezvous as it find , ESA will bestreaming the event livebeginning at 4:00 am EDT ( 8:00 GMT ) .
[ lid tip : Phil Plait ]
