Rosetta spacecraft approches comet for close study [WATCH]
Decade-long mission brings space probe close to Comet 67P
6 August 2014, 9:26am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
An image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which will be studied by the Rosetta probe if it is succesful in reaching the comet's orbit
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After 10 years, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft will arrive at its destination today for the first extended, close examination of a comet.
The probe is to attempt something unprecedented - going into orbit around the comet as it hurtles through space at more than 55,000 kilometres per hour. It is hoped the mission could reveal more about the emergence of life on Earth.
The last in a series of 10 thruster firings over the past few months will slow Rosetta to the pace of a person walking, about three kilometres per hour relative to the speed of its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, at a distance of about 100km.
How the Rosetta Spacecraft Will Land on a Comet (Infographic) by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist for Space.com
The three-tonne craft should tonight come to “rest” about 100km from the comet as both move through space.
The final rendezvous manoeuvre will begin at about 6.30pm EST. An hour later the final approach starts, Rosetta will fire its thrusters for exactly 6 minutes and 26 seconds — helping to slow the probe and sling it into a close orbit around the comet.
