Europe's trailblazing deep-space comet exploration for clues to the origins of the Solar System ends Friday with the Rosetta orbiter joining robot lab Philae on the iceball's dusty surface for eternity.
Space Exploration
Sep 26, 2016
4
302
An important amino acid called glycine has been detected in a comet for the first time, supporting the theory that these cosmic bodies delivered the ingredients for life on Earth, researchers said Friday.
Space Exploration
May 27, 2016
8
2980
The characteristic "rubber duck" shape of the comet carrying a European robot probe through space was the result of a low-velocity impact billions of years ago between two objects which fused, a study said Monday.
Space Exploration
Sep 28, 2015
6
763
On Nov. 12, 2014, the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission made history when its Philae lander touched down on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. While this exciting technical achievement gained lots of headlines, ...
Space Exploration
Jan 22, 2015
6
702
The mystery of where Earth's water came from got murkier Wednesday when some astronomers essentially eliminated one of the chief suspects: comets.
Space Exploration
Dec 10, 2014
25
0
(Phys.org) —ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has made its first temperature measurements of its target comet, finding that it is too hot to be covered in ice and must instead have a dark, dusty crust.
Space Exploration
Aug 1, 2014
1
0
With an eye toward a possible return mission years in the future, Cornell astronomers have shown how smooth terrains—a good place to land a spacecraft and to scoop up samples—evolve on the icy world of comets.
Astronomy
Sep 1, 2022
0
40
After years of detective work, scientists working on the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission have now been able to locate where the Philae lander made its second and penultimate contact with the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ...
Space Exploration
Oct 29, 2020
2
291
Feeling stressed? You're not alone. ESA's Rosetta mission has revealed that geological stress arising from the shape of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has been a key process in sculpting the comet's surface and interior ...
Space Exploration
Feb 19, 2019
1
85
The dust that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko emits into space consists to about one half of organic molecules. The dust belongs to the most pristine and carbon-rich material known in our solar system and has hardly changed ...
Space Exploration
Dec 1, 2017
78
153
