Europe harnesses the comet – Spider’s Web

Rosetta spacecraft will go into the annals of the history of the conquest of space. After a chase lasting a decade at a distance of a few billion miles a European spacecraft went into orbit of a comet orbiting our sun.

The above message sparked euphoria among astronomy enthusiasts worldwide. Comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko just gained a new satellite. Material, called Rosetta. This vehicle is not the work of neither American nor Chinese nor Russian engineering. Rosetta built in Europe, and its success is probably the biggest reputational success of the ESA. Especially since the Rosetta mission was not the easiest.

Poll chasing the comet for 10 years, five months and four days, five times bouncing off the gravitational field of our Sun. Also used the Earth and Mars as gravitational slingshots firing probe in the right direction. To save energy, it hibernating in total for a period of two years and successfully followed it wybudzając A total of 6.4 billion kilometers defeated and at the moment there are some 405 million kilometers from us. Being more or less halfway between Jupiter and Mars. But it presents to us like this view:

Here 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko in person. No other spacecraft did not come so close to any comet. These ten years of pursuit, however, only the first stage of the mission. The next will be just as pioneering.

So far, the probe flew by the comet at most. Rosetta is a stable orbit, which allows for further action. First, and most important is to try to land on the surface thereof with the lander Philae. The module itself master Rosetta will continue to circulate in an orbit 67P, year round comet mapping and analyzing the changes that occur in it under the influence of the sun.

But before the lander Philae will enter into action, Rosetta must first examine the a very accurate gravitational interaction of the comet in order to ensure the greatest possible safety lądownikowi and maintain a more stable orbit. It would be silly if the mission lasted a decade Rosetta fell out of orbit and Philae crashed while landing .

67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko is this spot in the middle

The mission is to investigate the chemical composition of comets. For years scientists seek confirmation of their existing circumstantial evidence that it was due to comets on the planet found in both water and organic compounds (read: life).

The researchers also want to examine the tail of a comet. Carefully and closely observe how it is formed, which has an additional influence on the knowledge of the construction of the comet. Give yourself time for this year.

67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet is short-term. Appears in the sky every six years (unfortunately, not visible to the naked eye). For comparison, the comet Halley appears in our sky every 76 years …

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