• published: 06 Aug 2014
• views: 75

Europe's Rosetta probe goes into orbit around comet 67P Europe's Rosetta probe has arrived at a comet after a 10 year chase. In a first for space history, the spacecraft was manoeuvred alongside a speeding body to begin mapping its surface in detail. The spacecraft fired its thrusters for six and a half minutes to finally catch up with comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko. "We're at the comet!" said Sylvain Lodiot of the European Space Agency operations centre in Germany. "After 10 years, five months and four days travelling towards our destination, looping around the Sun five times and clocking up 6.4 billion km, we are delighted to announce finally 'we are here'," said Jean Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency. Launched on board an Ariane rocket in March 2004, Rosetta has taken a long route around our Solar System to catch up with comet 67P. In a series of fly pasts, the probe used the gravity of the Earth and Mars to increase its speed during the 6 billion km chase. To save energy, controllers at the European Space Agency's centre in Darmstadt, Germany, put Rosetta into hibernation for 31 months. In January they successfully woke the craft from its slumber as it began the final leg of the daring encounter. For the past two months, Rosetta has been carrying out a series of manoeuvres to slow the probe down. The comet is travelling at 55000km per hour (34175 mph). The spacecraft's speed has been adjusted so that in relative terms it will be flying beside the comet at a slow walking pace of 1 meter per second (3.6kph). At a distance of 550 million km from the Earth, messages are taking over 22 minutes to get to Rosetta. The distances involved are so great that the complex final command sequence for Wednesday's crucial thruster burn had to be issued on Monday night. News Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28659783 TAG:Europe's Rosetta probe goes into orbit around distant comet BBC News - Rosetta probe catches distant comet - BBC.com Rosetta probe: Recap updates after spacecraft successfully ... Rosetta probe: Live updates as spacecraft reaches icy ... Rosetta space probe closes in on comet - CBS News The Rosetta probe arrives at distant comet - NewsDiffs ... Rosetta arrives at comet destination / Rosetta / Space ... Rosetta Probe Swoops Closer to Comet Destination than .. Rosetta (spacecraft) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Amazing Comet Photos Reveal Rosetta Spacecraft's Targe Search Results Europe's Rosetta probe goes into orbit around distant com European Spacecraft to Attempt Historic Comet Rendezvous ... New Rosetta Images Show Bright Neck of Probe's Target .. Europe's Rosetta Probe Reaches Climax of Its Comet A Soldier's Story: Survived an I.E.D. - NBC News Europe's Rosetta probe goes into orbit around distant c Europes Rosetta Probe Goes Into Orbit Around Distant Co Spaceflight Now | Rosetta Mission Report | Mission Status .. Rosetta's incredible images of comet from just 620 miles ... Comet-Chasing Probe to Make Historic Rendezvous ... Comet | physics4me Rosetta spacecraft due for rendezvous with comet Fingers crossed as comet-chaser nears end of trek - Phys.org Astronomy Now - The UK's best magazine for stargazing Space probe Rosetta will today enter orbit of Comet 67P ... Encounter of the first kind: Rosetta on track for historic comet Rosetta has arrived! Probe successfully goes into orbit . Rosetta | Behind The Black Rosetta space probe set for celestial rendezvous with duck ... Rosetta Is Now the First Ever Satellite to Start Orbiting a ...