Frankfurt. (Reuters). European Rosetta spacecraft was the first to reach a comet, a milestone in a space mission 10 years that scientists hope will help unravel some of the secrets of the solar system.
Rosetta, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, will accompany the comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko on your journey around the Sun and place a probe on the surface this year, in an unprecedented act. Scientists must now learn enough about the comet using data from Rosetta probe to land in November.
AN ASYMMETRICAL KITE
“ We know what the shape of the kite . But we have not measured its severity, we do not know where the center of mass,” said flight director Rosetta, Andrea Accomazzo, Reuters before arrival.
As he approached the 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko this year, Rosetta took pictures that revealed no shape, as was supposed, of a ball rugby, but has two segments connected by asymmetric closer part, which gives it a shape resembling that of a duck.
Scientists hope that the data research on the comet’s surface allows them to look at the capsule astronomical time that has hidden for millions of years clues how the world was when our solar system was born.
Rosetta took 10 years, five months and four days to reach the comet, a rock 3 by 5 km discovered in 1969 . By the way, the ship circled the Sun in a spiral out through the Earth and Mars to gain speed and adjust its trajectory.
The mission is a pioneer in several aspects such as the first time a spacecraft orbits a comet instead of going to take some pictures, and is the first time a probe is placed in a comet.
Because the trip was so long and so far carried Rosetta from sunlight, the ship was 31 months and then hibernated ‘awakened’ this year.
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