The £1billion Rosetta mission is about to
come to a dramatic end, when the
spacecraft is flown head-first into a comet.
Rosetta reached 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenk on August 6, 2014, after a
decade-long journey through the solar
system.
But all good things must come to an end.
Final commands are
being uploaded into
the orbiter today to
line the probe up for
its deliberate crash
into the rough surface
of the comet it has
orbited for over two
years.
Rosetta will carry out the ‘collision
manoeuvre’ at 9.50pm GMT at an altitude
of about 19km.
At that point there will be no turning back.
The spacecraft will hurtle straight towards
the comet, hitting the ground at around
11.40am GMT on Friday.
Despite travelling at just 1.1mph – a
relaxed walking pace – the craft is not
designed for landing and so will not
survive.
The remains of
Rosetta will then
stay on the surface
of the comet as it
carries on its
repeated circuits of
the solar system –
which could continue
for millions of years.
If you’re wondering why they’re crashing
the spacecraft, it’s because the comet is
apparently now heading so far from the
Sun that soon its solar panels will not be
able to generate enough power to keep it
functioning.
Although this will be the end of Rosetta,
scientists are hoping it will capture some
stunning images and valuable data in its
final moments.
Speaking on a
European Space
Agency (ESA)
YouTube hangout,
Rosetta flight director
Andrea Accomazzo
said: ‘From an energy
point of view it will be
a soft landing.
‘But Rosetta’s not designed to land, so
there will be some energy dissipation. For
sure, Rosetta will bounce or tumble on the
surface of the comet, but will not bounce
back into orbit.’
He added: ‘We could have abandoned the
spacecraft… But this is not what we want
to do.’
The £1billion Rosetta mission is about to
come to a dramatic end, when the
spacecraft is flown head-first into a comet.
Rosetta reached 67P/Churyumov-
Gerasimenk on August 6, 2014, after a
decade-long journey through the solar
system.
But all good things must come to an end.
Final commands are
being uploaded into
the orbiter today to
line the probe up for
its deliberate crash
into the rough surface
of the comet it has
orbited for over two
years.
Rosetta will carry out the ‘collision
manoeuvre’ at 9.50pm GMT at an altitude
of about 19km.
At that point there will be no turning back.
The spacecraft will hurtle straight towards
the comet, hitting the ground at around
11.40am GMT on Friday.
Despite travelling at just 1.1mph – a
relaxed walking pace – the craft is not
designed for landing and so will not
survive.
The remains of
Rosetta will then
stay on the surface
of the comet as it
carries on its
repeated circuits of
the solar system –
which could continue
for millions of years.
If you’re wondering why they’re crashing
the spacecraft, it’s because the comet is
apparently now heading so far from the
Sun that soon its solar panels will not be
able to generate enough power to keep it
functioning.
Although this will be the end of Rosetta,
scientists are hoping it will capture some
stunning images and valuable data in its
final moments.
Speaking on a
European Space
Agency (ESA)
YouTube hangout,
Rosetta flight director
Andrea Accomazzo
said: ‘From an energy
point of view it will be
a soft landing.
‘But Rosetta’s not designed to land, so
there will be some energy dissipation. For
sure, Rosetta will bounce or tumble on the
surface of the comet, but will not bounce
back into orbit.’
He added: ‘We could have abandoned the
spacecraft… But this is not what we want
to do.’
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