Fact Sheet

ESA's historic Rosetta mission concluded as planned, on 30 September 2016, with a controlled impact onto the comet it had been investigating for more than two years. The mission was launched on 2 March 2004, on a 10-year journey towards comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. En route, it passed by two asteroids, 2867 Steins (in 2008) and 21 Lutetia (in 2010), before entering deep-space hibernation mode in June 2011. On 20 January 2014, it 'woke up' and prepared for arrival at the comet in August that year. On 12 November, the mission deployed its Philae probe to the comet, the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat was achieved. During the next phase of the mission, Rosetta accompanied the comet through perihelion (13 August 2015) until the end of the mission.

News

News

Philae's second touchdown site discovered at 'skull-top' ridge
28 October 2020

After years of detective work, the second touchdown site of Rosetta's Philae lander has been located on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in a site that resembles the shape of a skull. Philae left its imprint in billions-of-years-old ice, revealing that the comet's icy interior is softer than cappuccino froth.

Unique ultraviolet aurora spied at Rosetta's comet
21 September 2020

ESA's Rosetta mission has revealed a unique kind of aurora, an exciting phenomenon seen throughout the Solar System, at its target comet, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta and the chameleon comet
5 February 2020

A grand synthesis of Rosetta data has shown how its target comet repeatedly changed colour during the two years it was watched by the spacecraft. The chameleon comet's nucleus became progressively less red as it made its close pass around the Sun, and then red again as it returned to deep space.

Building blocks of life spotted on Rosetta's comet hint at composition of its birthplace
20 January 2020

Observations from ESA's Rosetta spacecraft are shedding light on the mysterious make-up of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, revealing a mix of compounds thought to be essential precursors to life – including salts of ammonium and a particular type of hydrocarbons.

Mapping the cosmic journey of phosphorus with Rosetta and ALMA
15 January 2020

Astronomers using the combined powers of ESA's Rosetta mission and the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have traced the journey of phosphorus – one of life's building blocks – from star-forming regions to comets.

Comet's collapsing cliffs and bouncing boulders
18 September 2019

Scientists analysing the treasure trove of images taken by ESA's Rosetta mission have turned up more evidence for curious bouncing boulders and dramatic cliff collapses.

Presentations

Presentations

Rosetta Science Highlights Briefing - Presentations
30 September 2016Rosetta science experts presented the key discoveries made at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, in a dedicated briefing at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre on 29 September, ahead of the mission’s finale on 30 September 2016. Available presentations can be downloaded from here in pdf format.

Latest Articles

Latest Articles

The surprising comet
26 September 2016As Rosetta began homing in on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in the weeks leading up to its arrival in August 2014, it became very clear that this was no ordinary comet. But its striking shape was only just the beginning of the comet's surprises.

Follow ESA's Mission To Comet 67P/C-G - The Rosetta Blog

Follow ESA's Mission To Comet 67P/C-G - The Rosetta Blog

Impressions of Rosetta's legacy: an e-book
23 December 2016In September–October 2016, over 200 people contributed to the Rosetta Legacy campaign, sharing stories, images, videos, creations and experiences to convey what the mission had meant to them.
OSIRIS Data Release: March–May 2015
22 December 2016A new batch of thousands of images from Rosetta's OSIRIS imaging system have been released into ESA's Archive Image Browser and the Planetary Science Archive.
Reflections
12 December 2016Some ten weeks have passed since Rosetta ended its mission on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and it is time for a little reflection here on the Rosetta blog...
An encounter with Klim Churyumov
11 November 2016Two years ago this week, the entire world was getting ready for a historic endeavour in space: the first soft landing of a human-made probe on a comet. The day before landing I had the pleasure to briefly meet Professor Churyumov and even asked him a few questions, taking down notes with the help of his interpreters.
Last NAVCAM archive release
20 October 2016The last batch of NAVCAM images taken by Rosetta during the final month of its incredible mission at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko have been released to the Archive Image Browser. The image set covers the period 2-30 September when the spacecraft was on elliptical orbits that sometimes brought it to within 2 km of the comet's surface.
CometWatch - NavCam images
30 September 2016Images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken by Rosetta's navigation camera (NavCam). Last images are from 30 September 2016.

From Our Partners

From Our Partners

Rosetta Ground Based Campaign: Calling All Amateur Astronomers
8 April 2015Are you an amateur astronomer? The Rosetta mission has an opportunity for you, one that will allow you to collaborate with professional astronomers and study a comet in tandem with a real space mission.
ScienceCasts: How to Land on a Comet
5 November 2014The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is about to attempt something "ridiculously difficult" - landing a probe on the surface of a speeding comet.
Rosetta features in Von Karman Lecture Series
13 October 2014Art Chmielewski (US Rosetta Project Manager) and Claudia Alexander (US Rosetta Project Scientist) presented the mission to an audience attending the Von Karman Lecture Series at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on October 9.
Rosetta-Alice spectrograph to begin first-ever close up ultraviolet studies of comet surface and atmosphere
10 June 2014After a 10-year journey that began in March 2004, the European Space Agency's Rosetta comet orbiter has its sights set on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The orbiter's payload, including the Alice ultraviolet (UV) spectrograph developed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), is poised to begin the first orbital and closest-ever observations of...
NASA Instruments on Rosetta Start Comet Science
10 June 2014Three NASA science instruments aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft, which is set to become the first to orbit a comet and land a probe on its nucleus, are beginning observations and sending science data back to Earth.
ScienceCasts: Rosetta Comet Comes Alive
4 June 2014Later this year, Europe's Rosetta probe will orbit and land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. New images of the comet show that it will be a lively place when Rosetta arrives.
8-Dec-2024 18:08 UT

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