Rosetta to end mission today – Spacecraft set for crash landing into comet 67P

Author yuvamind

NEW DELHI: The European Space Agency ‘s Rosetta space probe, which has been tracking a comet for the past two years, is all set to end its historic mission on September 30, 2016 (Friday). The Rosetta mission will end its 12 years  mission in a controlled descent of the spacecraft onto the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at around 7:20 a.m. According to European Space Agency scientists, they ' res ending the mission because the spacecraft’s ever-enhancing distance from the sun has resulted in significantly decreased solar power to enforce the spacecraft and its instruments.
The Rosetta probe, launched in 2004 carrying 11 science instruments, with several contributions from NASA, arrived at its destination comet on August 6, 2014. The spacecraft becomame the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet and escort it as it orbits the sun. Since its arrival at the comet, the spacecraft has captured about 116,000 images during its 12-year mission to track a comet, also revealing what comets look like, what they are made of and how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun ' s radiation. About two months later, the small Philae lander deployed from Rosetta touched down on the comet and bounced several times before alighting on the surface. Philae obtained the first images ever taken from the surface of a comet, and sent back valuable scientific data for several days. Observations will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in the formation of planets. ESA say that due to the signal travel time, the end of the mission will be confirmed 40 minutes after the impact has actually occurred, within 20 minutes of 11:18 GMT / 13:18 CEST.
SUBSCRIBE YUVAMIND NEWSLETTER
COPYRIGHT © 2024 YUVAMIND. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE LOGOS/IMAGES ARE SHOWN ON THIS WEBSITE BELONG TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS / PATNERS.
Disclaimer: Yuvamind doesn't provide admission on its own, the website has published the details are based on research OR provided by the second party to help the aspirants, If you find inappropriate contents on this website please tell us, your suggestions shall be highly appreciated.