Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and the Rosetta Mission
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a short-period comet that orbits the Sun once every 6.45 years. It was discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomers Svetlana Churyumov and Klim Churyumov at the Kiev Observatory in Ukraine. Named after its discoverers, this comet became the focus of one of the most ambitious space missions in history: the Rosetta Mission.
History and Context
The Rosetta Mission was a European Space Agency (ESA) project aimed at studying comets to understand the Solar System's formation and evolution. Launched on March 2, 2004, from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana, Rosetta spacecraft embarked on a ten-year journey to rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Key Objectives
- Study the nucleus: Analyze the comet's physical properties, composition, and structure.
- Monitor activity: Observe the comet's behavior as it approached the Sun, including outgassing and dust ejection.
- Land on the comet: Deploy the Philaes Lander to perform in-situ measurements.
- Understand cometary origins: Investigate the role of comets in delivering water and organic compounds to Earth.
Mission Highlights
- August 6, 2014: Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after several gravitational assists from planets.
- November 12, 2014: The Philaes Lander became the first spacecraft to land on a comet, although it did not secure a stable landing spot and bounced several times before coming to rest.
- September 30, 2016: The mission concluded when Rosetta was intentionally crashed onto the comet's surface to gather close-up data in its final moments.
Scientific Discoveries
The mission provided unprecedented insights into:
- The comet's surface composition, revealing a mixture of dust, ice, and organic molecules.
- The presence of water, suggesting comets might have contributed to Earth's water.
- Organic compounds, hinting at the potential for comets to have seeded life on Earth.
- The comet's unusual shape, which resembled a "rubber duck," suggesting it could be two comets that merged.
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