Rosetta Mission Page

The Rosetta spacecraft on its fueling stand. Click on image for full size (270K JPEG) Courtesy of the European Space Agency

Rosetta will not rendezvous with comet Wirtanen as was originally planned, but comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (abbreviated as comet C-G)

After launch, the spacecraft will then begin on a ten year journey to rendezvous with comet C-G. Part of the ten years will include Rosetta getting on the correct orbital path, which includes gravity assists from Earth and Mars. Rosetta will study this comet in detail, in hopes that this will lead to new scientific findings about all comets and thus about the formation of our solar system.

The Rosetta spacecraft is actually made of two parts: an orbiter, which will approach the comet and then circle it, and a lander. Rosetta has many complex scientific instruments that will aid in researching this comet's nucleus, coma and tail.

The Rosetta spacecraft is named after the Rosetta stone, a famous stone that allowed hieroglyphics to finally be deciphered.

Scientists are excited about new discoveries Rosetta might help make. This is the first comet mission where part of a spacecraft will actually touch down on a comet. Watch for news to come regarding the Rosetta Mission!

Many scientists from different nations have contributed to the Rosetta mission. Mission operations are being overseen by the European Space Agency.

The Rosetta spacecraft on its fueling stand. Click on image for full size (270K JPEG) Courtesy of the European Space Agency

Rosetta will not meet up with comet Wirtanen as was originally planned. Instead, the spacecraft will fly towards comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. (shortened as comet C-G)

After launch, Rosetta will then begin a ten year journey to the comet C-G. Rosetta will study this comet in detail, in hopes that this will lead to new scientific findings about all comets. Learning about comets helps us learn about our own solar system and about how the solar system originally formed.

The Rosetta spacecraft is actually made of two parts: an orbiter, which will approach the comet and then circle it, and a lander, which will touch down on the comet. Rosetta has many complex scientific instruments that will help us find out about this comet's nucleus, coma and tail.

The Rosetta spacecraft is named after the Rosetta stone, a famous stone that allowed us to figure out what Egyptian hieroglyphics say.

Scientists are excited about new discoveries Rosetta might help make. This is the first comet mission where part of a spacecraft will actually touch down on a comet. Watch for news to come regarding the Rosetta Mission!

The Rosetta spacecraft on its fueling stand. Click on image for full size (270K JPEG) Courtesy of the European Space Agency

The Rosetta Mission will travel to visit a comet. When it gets there, one part of the spacecraft will begin to orbit the comet. The other part of the spacecraft will actually crash into the surface of the comet! It will remain on the comet (basically riding the comet through the solar system!)

Scientists are going to use different instruments on Rosetta to learn all about comets. They will study the comet's nucleus, coma and tail.

The Rosetta spacecraft is named after the Rosetta stone, a famous stone that allowed us to figure out what Egyptian hieroglyphics say.

Rosetta will launch on February 26, 2004.