Why Oxygen Is 'Expelled' By Comets

Medicine & Technology May 16, 2017

Experts examine the abundant oxygen that is released by comets and explain the nagging mystery.

Comet 67P Changes: Rosetta's OSIRIS Camera Found Evidence Of Erosion

Apr 06, 2017

The scientist says that heating from the sun plays a major role in driving the changes. A sequence of images reveals fresh circular features on the larger lobe of the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

ESA Latest News & Update: Rosetta Orbiter Captured Landslide On The Comet 67P In Deep Space

Mar 22, 2017

ESA astronomers have captured details of a landslide that occurred on Comet 67P. The Rosetta spacecraft took pictures before and after of landslide. The cliff was 70 meters high and between 55 and 88 meters wide.

Rosetta Mission Update: Dunes Found On Comet 67P/Chury Hint At Presence Of Wind And Grains

Feb 25, 2017

The presence of shifting dunes has surpised scientists researching on the comet 67P. Usually formation of dunes requires strong winds to move the grains so the discovery has initiated even more probing into Comet 67P's surface and atmosphere.

Frozen In Space—How Comet 67P Is Slowing Down

Mar 22, 2015

Researchers this week with the European Space Agency (ESA) may have discovered how comets can remain so cold with the revelation of molecular nitrogen being found on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but now they need to figure out their movements.

Rosetta Spots Clues About the Formation of the Solar System

Mar 21, 2015

he Rosetta Orbiter orbiting Comet 67P detected molecular nitrogen from October 17 to 23, 2014 when the orbiter was just 10 kilometers from the comet's center using the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis.

Molecular Nitrogen on Comet 67P Reveals a Frigid Start to Our Solar System

Mar 20, 2015

For the past several months the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft mission has been tailing the famous Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with many answers at the core of its research. While in orbit the mission has been able to gather an immense amount of data, creating a never-before-seen view of comets as the first spacecraft to ever successfully orbit one in our history. Yet, many molecular ingredients that are thought to have given rise to comets have not been found.

Comet Awakes As It Approaches the Sun

Jan 23, 2015

Do you remember that comet we landed on last year? It seems this comet has unexpectedly become more active showing signs of "waking up" as it zooms towards the sun at almost 47,800 miles per hour.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko May Be In the Limelight, But It’s Still Very Gray

Dec 13, 2014

Early images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko described the topography of the space rock, and gave researchers a unique view of the rocky surface. But what ESA astronomers on the Rosetta space team were not expecting was that early black & white images may also be conveying the comet’s truer colors.

Comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko Reveals Origins of Water May Not be From Comets

Dec 11, 2014

After an arduous ten year journey throughout some tough terrain of space, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission set records this past summer for being the first spacecraft to orbit a comet in mid-flight. And while many expected the mission to reveal a bit more insight into the behavior and composition of comets from the outer edges of our solar system, no one expected to learn exactly how Earth came to be so unique and the perfect host to life, only three planets away from our sun.

As Time Runs Out for Philae, ESA Gathers Data

Nov 15, 2014

It’s a $1.62 billion mission who’s fighting against the clock. For more than a decade now, researchers have been hoping that the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta Mission would give them a better understand and an unseen view of what lies beneath the surface of a comet. And now that they’re there, they fear that time is not on their side.

Philae Lander Takes a Nap, As ESA Fights Against the Clock

Nov 15, 2014

It’s been a 310 million mile journey from the Earth to its destination Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, so what does the famed Philae lander probe do once it’s made history by being the first to touch down on the surface of a speeding comet? The answer may surprise you.

ESA Ready to Give Rosetta’s Philae the Green Light

Nov 11, 2014

It’s been a mission ten years in the making, and after a final green light from mission control tonight, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta Mission will deploy its handy little lander named “Philae” onto the surface of the far off Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko it met up with earlier this summer.

Rosetta Spacecraft Reports on Smelly Comet's 'Perfume'

Oct 25, 2014

The Rosetta Orbiter, which is orbiting Comet 67P/C-G, has recently reported back on what the fumes coming off of the comet smell like--and it's not good. Rosetta is using its 'mass spectrometers' to 'sniff' what the ESA is calling the comet's 'perfume.'

ESA Shows Ambition of Rosetta Mission—Sci Fi Film Reveals Importance of Mission

Oct 24, 2014

With only a matter of days standing between now and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta Mission landing on its host Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, researchers and the ESA are looking towards what the future of the mission may mean for Earth. As the first successful orbit around a comet, speeding through our solar system on its mission around the sun, the ESA is searching for answers not only on the origin of our Earth, but also of our solar system—something they say they will find in a new sci-fi film released this morning, Oct. 24.