The Rosetta Mission was an ambitious and groundbreaking space mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA), which launched in 2004 and operated until 2016. Its primary goal was to study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko up close, marking the first time a spacecraft orbited a comet and deployed a lander on its surface.
The mission provided unprecedented insights into comets, which are considered primitive building blocks of the Solar System, offering clues about the early solar nebula and the formation of planets. Rosetta was one of the most ambitious projects in space exploration history, significantly advancing our understanding of comets and the early Solar System and showing how international cooperation can lead to extraordinary scientific achievements.
Overview and Launch
Rosetta was launched on March 2, 2004, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Its journey to the comet was complex, requiring gravity-assist flybys of Earth and Mars to gain the necessary velocity. During its 10-year trek, Rosetta also conducted flybys of two asteroids, Steins and Lutetia, further contributing to its scientific return before reaching its primary target.
Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014. Upon arrival, the spacecraft mapped the comet’s surface in great detail and provided valuable data on its shape, structure, and composition.
In November 2014, Rosetta deployed its lander, Philae, which made history as the first probe to land on a comet’s surface. Although Philae’s landing was bumpy, and it ended up in a shaded area where its solar panels couldn’t recharge fully, it still managed to send data back to Earth for about 60 hours.
Mission Objectives
The primary scientific objectives of the Rosetta mission were to:
- Study the nucleus of the comet and observe its gas, dust, and plasma activity as it approached the Sun.
- Analyze the composition of the comet to better understand the role comets played in the formation of the Solar System and possibly in delivering water and organic molecules to Earth.
- Investigate how comets change when they interact with solar radiation, particularly during perihelion (the point where the comet is closest to the Sun).
- Complex Organic Molecules: Rosetta detected organic compounds like glycine and phosphorus, which are crucial for life, supporting the theory that comets could have brought life-essential ingredients to Earth.
- Cometary Structure: Detailed data from the spacecraft showed that Comet 67P had a highly irregular shape, with two distinct lobes connected by a “neck.”
- Surface and Activity: The mission revealed that the comet’s surface was a complex mixture of ice, dust, and organic materials, and as the comet neared the Sun, it released gas and dust jets, contributing to its spectacular coma (cloud of gas and dust) and tail.
Current Status
In September 2016, after over two years of close observation, ESA commanded the Rosetta spacecraft to make a controlled descent onto the comet’s surface, effectively ending the mission. The data gathered during this final phase were as valuable as the rest of the mission, as Rosetta continued to transmit images and measurements until its final moments.
