ROSETTA

ROSETTA is an ESA mission whose main objectives are the rendezvous and in-situ measurements of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Indeed, after a journey lasting 10 years and covering distance of 6.5 billion km, Rosetta arrived at the comet in August 2014. On 12 November 2014, the Philae lander was deployed to the surface. That was the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat was achieved. Rosetta has accompanied the comet along its orbit, through perihelion, and back out towards the outer Solar System. The mission ended on 30 September 2016 with the controlled impact on the orbiter onto the comet.
This mission had as main science objective to improve our understanding about:

• the internal structure of the nucleus,
• the nucleus nature and the mineralogical, chemical, and isotopical composition of the nucleus, especially its organic component,
• the interaction between the nucleus and the solar wind or the radiation pressure.

Rosetta enables, then, to study the nucleus as well as its gas and dust environment through its approach to the Sun, by remote sensing techniques and by analysis on the ground itself.

Access to mission data

Access to mission documents