When was Rosetta launched and by whom?
The robotic space probe was launched on March 2, 2004 by the European Space Agency. Its target was to reach the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Travelling a distance of 4 billion miles, it reached the comet in August 2014 and entered its orbit on September 10.
What is its mission?
Rosetta’s mission is to gather information about comets, about how they were formed. Scientists hope that its data will help them understand the formation of the solar system better.
What are its achievements so far?
Its greatest success has been landing the Philae probe on the comet nucleus of Churyumov– Gerasimenko on November 12, a first in the history of space exploration. On the way to the comet, it also took pictures of the asteroids Steins and Lutetia.
How did Philae land on the comet nucleus?
It was not a smooth landing as hoped for. The comet has extremely weak gravity. When the probe landed on it for the first time, it bounced twice; it took two hours for the probe to return to the surface after the first bounce. It finally came to rest in a tilted position against the shadow of a cliff, thereby limiting the amount of sunlight reaching its solar panels.
What is the current status of Philae?
As its solar batteries could not be recharged adequately by sunlight, the probe went into hibernation after transmitting data for 57 hours. It is hoped that as the comet makes its way to the Sun, the probe will receive enough sunlight to get recharged and resume its investigations.