ESA invites the public to name Philae’s landing site on Comet 67P

(Photo Credit: ESA)

The European Space Agency and its Rosetta mission partners are inviting the public to suggest a name for the site where Philae will touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on 12 November.

Image of the Day: 14/10/14

(Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA)

The European Space Agency’s Philae lander recently snapped this great “selfie” of one of Rosetta’s 52-foot-long (16-meter) solar arrays while Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko hovers 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in the background.

NASA prepares fleet of Martian orbiters and rovers for comet flyby

(Click here to view a larger version of this image – Photo Credit: NASA)

NASA’s extensive fleet of science assets currently orbiting and roving Mars have front row seats to witness a once-in-a-lifetime comet flyby on Sunday 19th October.

Hidden crater on asteroid Lutetia could explain its unusual surface grooves

(Lutetia in 3D – Photo Credit: ESA)

Grooves found on Lutetia, an asteroid encountered by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft on its journey to Comet 67P, indicate that a large impact crater is hiding on its dark side: a side of the asteroid not yet photographed or analysed. 

European Space Agency select date for historic comet landing

(Philae’s landing site – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta et al)

The European Space Agency have announced that the Rosetta spacecraft will deploy its lander, Philae, to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on November 12. 

European Space Agency select a landing site for Philae

(The location of the primary landing site shown in context of comet 67P/C-G – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team et al)

The ‘head’ of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has been selected by the European Space Agency as the primary site for Rosetta’s Philae lander, which will make history and perform the first ever landing on a comet in November.

Image of the Day: 12/9/14

(Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA)

Using the CIVA imaging system on board the Philae lander, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has managed to snap a ‘selfie’ of itself.

Image of the Day: 9/9/14

(ESO captured this picture of the comet from Chile – Photo Credit: Colin Snodgrass/ESO/ESA)

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko has recently become the subject of a number of images from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, which is currently in orbit around 67P, and although Rosetta’s photographs are very important, and impressive, astronomers still need to monitor the comet from Earth.

Image of the Day: 6/9/14

(Two jets of gas and dust blast from Comet 67P– Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/ Navcam/Bob King)

New images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, taken by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, show an amazing pair of jets vigorously expelling ice crystals, mixed with dust, from its nucleus.

NASA instrument aboard Rosetta returns its first science results

(Artist’s concept of Rosetta orbiting 67P – Photo Credit: NASA/ESA)

A NASA instrument aboard the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has successfully obtained its first set of science data from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

European Space Agency selects five possible landing sites for Rosetta mission

(This annotated image depicts four of the five potential landing sites for Rosetta’s Philae lander – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team et al)

Using detailed information collected by the Rosetta spacecraft during its first two weeks orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency have identified five candidate landing sites for the robotic Philae lander which will make history and descend from Rosetta and land on the comet’s nucleus in November.

Rosetta performs scientific observations and begins selecting possible landing sites

(Close up detail of comet 67P’s surface – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM)

Just a week after arriving at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft is beginning to acquire the data it needs to select a landing site.

NASA spacecraft discovers microscopic particles of interstellar dust that originated from outside of our solar system

(Artist’s concept of the Stardust spacecraft – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Scientists believe that seven microscopic particles of dust, collected by NASA’s comet-chasing Stardust spacecraft, originated from outside of our solar system, signalling the world’s first examination of interstellar dust.

NASA performs 3-D study of comets and their comas

(Comet ISON – Photo Credit: TRAPPIST/E. Jehin/ESO)

A NASA-led team of scientists have created detailed 3-D maps of the atmospheres surrounding the ISON and Lemmon comets. This allowed them to identify several of the gases in their comas, revealing the presence of formaldehyde and HNC (hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon).

Mars Odyssey spacecraft completes precautionary comet manoeuvre

(Artist’s concept of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has successfully adjusted the timing of its orbit around Mars as a defensive precaution for comet C/2013 A1 (otherwise known as Siding Spring) which will pass by the Red Planet on October 19.

After a 10 year journey, Rosetta arrives at Comet 67P

(Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta)

After a decade-long journey, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has today become the first vehicle to ever rendezvous with a comet. Rosetta has now established a stable orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after completing the last of a series of 10 rendezvous manoeuvres that adjusted Rosetta’s speed and trajectory to gradually match those of comet.

Rosetta’s temperature measurments reveal comet 67P is not covered in ice

(The latest image of the comet – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team et al)

After travelling nearly 6.4 billion kilometres through the Solar System, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft is just 4 days away from ‘arriving’ at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. With less than 700km separating the objects, Rosetta has been able to measure, for the first time, the temperature of the 67P, revealing that the cosmic body is too hot to be covered in ice.

Rosetta’s on board cameras capture even more details of comet 67P

(Some of the latest images of comet 67P – Photo Credit: ESA)

9 days and just over 2000 kilometres separate the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and now the comet’s largest features are beginning to stand out in the space craft’s OSIRIS narrow angle camera. The latest images have even enabled the space agency to formulate a 3D 360 degree model of the icy body.

NASA prepares Mars spacecrafts for comet flyby

(NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Corby Waste)

NASA are taking steps to protect their fleet of Mars-orbiting space crafts, while also preparing for a valuable opportunity to gather scientific data, as comet C/2013 A1 (otherwise known as Siding Spring) passes by the Red Planet on October 19.

Rosetta discovers its target is actually a ‘double’ comet

(Rotating view of comet 67P – Photo Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team et al)

New pictures aquired by European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft have revealed that the probe’s target, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, is not one but two objects joined together.