Rosetta Readies to Land on Comet

Comets have been feared since ancient times as harbingers of doom. There is little evidence to suggest that they have any effect on our human civilization as they zoom through space. In fact not much was known about comets and even today their secrets have yet to be explored. This is exactly what a space probe named Rosetta is going to do.

The Rosetta orbiter was launched into space to analyse and observe the nucleus and environment of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2004. It has highly complex metal ceramic sensors integrated into two mass spectrometers which are used to measure gas particles in the vicinity of the comet. This data will allow researchers to trace the nature of the comet along with the processes that occur inside one.

Developed by Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Rosetta will be the first probe to collect data on a comet not only as it passes by, but also by landing on its nucleus. Rosetta will reach the comet sometime in the month of August 2014. It is taking preliminary readings of the data being generated by the comet but real measurements will only begin once it hits the orbit of the comet. It will be interesting to keep track of this science project.