Comet – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Rosetta begins listening for signs of life from comet lander

March 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is trying to contact the Philae landing probe for the first time since the robot fell silent after a bouncy landing on a comet in November.

Rosetta glimpses its own shadow on comet 67P

March 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

The sharp-eyed science camera on Europe’s Rosetta comet orbiter caught a view of the probe’s fuzzy shadow when controllers guided the spacecraft just a few miles over its subject’s nucleus last month.

Photos from Rosetta’s Valentine’s Day comet close-up

February 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft — six months into its mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — made its closest flyby of the comet’s boulder-strewn nucleus Saturday, capturing photos and measurements to help scientists unravel how the duck-shaped body is evolving on its path around the sun.

Rosetta approaches comet 67P for a closer look

February 14, 2015 Stephen Clark

The Rosetta spacecraft neared its comet Saturday, targeting a close flyby within four miles of the tiny world’s jagged nucleus to gain new up-close views of the comet and taste the growing vaporous cloud surrounding it.

New discoveries from Rosetta put comet 67P in focus

January 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

Scientists have released new findings from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, adding fresh pages to a catalog of comet data that officials promise will swell with more discoveries over the rest of the year.

Rosetta raises questions on how water got to Earth

December 11, 2014 Stephen Clark

New readings from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission have challenged the theory that comets brought water to Earth in a series of cataclysmic collisions during the solar system’s chaotic youth.

Rosetta imagery shows Philae at first landing site

November 16, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Images recorded by Rosetta’s navigation camera appear to show the lander, its shadow and the dust cloud kicked up by its first touchdown.

Comet lander’s batteries near exhaustion

November 14, 2014 William Harwood

Trapped in rough, forbidding terrain with its solar panels draped in shadow, the Philae comet lander raced the clock Friday to carry out high-priority science operations, including an attempt to drill into the surface of the nucleus, before exhausting its on-board batteries and effectively losing consciousness.

Lander manager says Philae is doing well but battery life is low

November 14, 2014 Spaceflight Now

The lander project manager Stephan Ulamec says tremendous science has been collected during Philae’s short time on the surface but battery life is now limited and it is unlikely to last much longer.

Mission scientist reacts to historic first images from the surface of a comet

November 13, 2014 Spaceflight Now

Rosetta mission scientist Matt Taylor says the science team is jubilant after the Philae lander captured the historic, first close up images of the surface of a comet and began returning data from its science instruments.