First Ever Comet Landing Occurs
On November 12th, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) robotic spacecraft, the Rosetta, became the first space Philae probe
to successfully land on the surface of a comet. Probes are space crafts which are specifically designed to gather information about the environment they are sent to, and the Rosetta probe was created and launched so that a study of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko may be conducted. According to ESA’s Director General, Jean-Jacques, the Rosetta mission “has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface.”
The Rosetta mission launched over ten years ago on March 2nd, 2004 and traveled over 6.4 billion kilometers until reaching the comet’s orbit on August 6th, 2014. According to the ESA’s website, www.esa.int, the probe then orbited the comet over the next few months from 30-100 kilometers away. A problem arose when two harpoons designed to prevent bouncing and aid in a soft landing never fired.
“It’s complicated to land on a comet and it’s also complicated to understand what has happened during this landing,” Philae lead manager Stephan Ulamec told Jonathan Webb of BBC News. “We still do not fully understand what has happened.” Although the probe did not actually anchor the surface as planned, word of its successful landing was established on Earth by the ESA’s ground station in Malargue, Aregentina and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s station in Madrid, Spain at 16:03 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).
According to the ESA’s website, the Rosetta probe is expected to measure the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the comet’s surface, take 3D high-resolution images of it, and collect environment samples for analysis from a depth of 23 centimeters via a drill. “Rosetta is trying to answer the very big questions about the history of our Solar System,” said ESA Rosetta project scientist, Matt Taylor. “What were the conditions like at its infancy and how did it evolve? What role did comets play in this evolution? How do comets work?”
The probe is scheduled to join the comet as it orbits around the sun, and to collect data on any topical surface activity or changes. It will come into its closest contact with the sun at about 185 million kilometers on Sunday, August 13th, 2015, according to the ESA’s website. At this position, it will be halfway between the orbits of both Earth and Mars. The probe’s journey is scheduled to conclude at the end of 2015.
