A European Space Agency mission that achieved the first orbital rendezvous with a comet, launched on 2 March 2004 to study comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta reached the comet in August 2014 and deployed the Philae lander for the first controlled soft landing on a comet nucleus, before the mission concluded with the orbiter's own controlled impact onto the comet's surface on 30 September 2016.
Facts
Mission TypeRobotic comet rendezvous and lander mission 1 End DateDate of the orbiter's planned controlled impact onto comet 67P, ending the mission. OutcomeSuccessful; achieved the first cometary orbit and the first soft landing on a comet nucleus before its own planned impact ended the mission in September 2016. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Rosetta (spacecraft), lead sectionQuote, Wikipedia: Rosetta (spacecraft), lead section
Along with Philae, its lander module, Rosetta performed a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
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