Comet close-up
Rosetta will orbit the comet for 17 months, monitoring how it changes as it nears the Sun.
In a daring move, the Rosetta orbiter will launch a probe, Philae, to land on the nucleus of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The nucleus is the mysterious solid matter at the heart of the comet, and it's just a few kilometres across.
Philae will analyse the surface and gases of the comet's core, giving us our first close-up look at what a comet is actually made of. Will the comet be a dirty snowball or a snowy dirtball? Philae's on the case.
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Philae will touch down on the comet's core
Image: ESA |
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