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.

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.

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.

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.

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft prepares to orbit and land on comet

(Artist’s conception of Rosetta and its lander, Philae – Photo Credit: ESA/J. Huart)

In less than 40 days, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft will rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The pair are now around 500 million km from Earth, and after completing a number of big thruster burns to slow the comet chaser’s speed relative to 67P, they are separated by only 1,15,792 km.