Rosetta‘s lander Philae is warming up toland on comet 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenkoin just a few hours . It will be our first - ever attempt at touching down on a marked-up chunk of shabu in blank space . But how close have we catch to a comet before ?
Up close and personal with the surface of comet 67P / Churyumov - Gerasimenko from just 10 kilometers off . Image deferred payment : ESA
The Open University developed an instrument on the lander , Ptolemy , a miniature chemical depth psychology cortege . In their anticipation of the upcoming landing place , theyput together a timelineof retiring missions , go after how we ’ve gotten closer and closer to ultimately touching shoot down mildly on a comet .
1985 : NASA ’s International Cometary Explorer came within 7,800 km of comet Giacobini - Zinner ’s nucleus .
If the International Cometary Explorer ( ICE ) sounds mistily familiar , that ’s because that was the new name of1970s ISEE-3 satellitethat was crowdfunded , recovered after aglobal distributed exploit , and is now doingcitizen scienceagain .
Comet Giacobini - Zinner . Image credit : NASA / JPL
1986 : The international Halley Armada converged on Halley ’s Comet , with satellites getting to within 600 meter of the cell nucleus .
Halley ’s Comet from just 600 meters away . Image credit : ESA
Russia’sVega 1was the first to arrive , coming within 8,889 km ; Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’sSuiseicame within 151,000 kilometer . Both artificial satellite had long - space counterpart : Vega 2kept farther by at 14 million kilometers andSagigakekept to a slimly more daring 6.9 million kilometers . NASA’sISEE-3 / ICEjoined the party , furthermost out at 40.2 million kilometers off the sunward side to collect solar tip information . The European Space Agency get off just a single satellite , butGiottowas the most adventurous , darting to a simple 600 meter of the comet .
2001 : NASA ’s Deep Space 1 came within 2,200 klick of Comet Borrelly .
Comet Borrelly from within 2,200 kilometers . Image credit rating : NASA
Technology demonstration missionDeep Space 1sidled up to Comet Borrelly after chat 9969 Braille . The satellite descend within 2,200 kilometers to take picture and infrared spectra of the nucleus .
2002 : NASA ’s Comet Nucleus Tour fails in its delegation to do sub-100 kilometer flybys of comets Encke and Schwassmann - Wachmann-3 .
TheComet Nucleus Tour(Contour ) set in motion successfully , but NASA misplace contact with the satellite after a planned manoeuvre intended to send the spacecraft out of Earth cranial orbit . priming - establish observations advise Contour break into pieces .
2004 : NASA ’s Stardust swooped within 240 km of comet Wild 2 , and discharge the first sampling - return from a comet .
The nucleus of Comet Wild 2 seen from within 240 kilometers . Image credit : NASA
Stardustcaptured a few caryopsis of comet - debris , come back them for us to study on Earth . The sample return did n’t go just as planned , break apart into the desert . Just seven texture were recovered .
2005 : NASA ’s Deep Impact directly impact comet Tempel 1 .
Tempel 1 from 500 km . Image deferred payment : NASA
Deep Impactdid exactly as its name propose : while the independent satellite persist at a safe 500 kilometers from the comet , it expel an impactor to hit the comet to enquire the comet ’s inner composition . Stardust supervise to visit a few years later in 2011 , coming within 178 kilometers of the comet and spotting 300 - measure diameter craters strike by Deep Impact ’s impactor .
2010 : NASA ’s EPOXI flies within 694 kilometers of Comet Hartley 2 .
Comet Hartley 2 from just under 700 kilometre distance . Image cite : NASA / JPL - Caltech / UMD
After completing its primary mission , Deep Impact was rename toEPOXIand send trail an super active comet , Hartley 2 . This was the satellite ’s net deputation , as it experienceda unsuccessful person that foreclose it from phone home in 2013 .
2014 : ESA ’s Rosetta slips into orbit just 10 kilometers out from Comet 67P / Churyumov – Gerasimenko .
Landing site Agilkia on the airfoil of Comet 67P / Churyumov – Gerasimenko from 10 kilometers out . double credit : ESA
Rosetta slip into orbit around fChuryumov – Gerasimenko earlier this year . After mapping the comet ’s aerofoil , landing siteAgilkiawas selected as the target for its lander Philae . If everything goes well , tomorrow will be an all - new first for our geographic expedition of comets as Philae gently relate down and screws itself on to the surface of the comet .
Good fate , Philae . We ’ll all be cheering for you!you may watch the landing live on the European Space Agency ’s website .
cryptical impactDEEP SPACEHistoryphilaeSpaceStardustVega
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , skill , and acculturation word in your inbox day by day .
News from the future tense , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
