Roset­ta

Eu­rope's comet chas­er

The European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta mission was designed to study the formation and evolution of the Solar System by exploring one of the oldest and most primordial heavenly bodies – comets.

The mission consisted of the Rosetta orbiter and the Philae lander. The probes were launched on 2 March 2004, travelled 6.4 billion kilometres in 10 years and, with the help of a few planet swing-bys, arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014.

DLR played a major role in the construction of the lander and operated the Lander Control Center (LCC), from where the difficult task of landing on the comet on 12 November 2014 – a feat never before accomplished – was designed and controlled. On 27 July 2016, after almost two years of cometary exploration, the communications unit on board the Rosetta orbiter (which it used to communicate with the Philae lander) was switched off. On 30 September 2016, the operational part of the mission came to an official end, with the orbiter's controlled descent.

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The Philae lander on board the European Rosetta spacecraft
Since its launch in 2004, Rosetta has been 'protecting' the small Philae lander from all the harsh conditions encountered in interplanetary space. (Frame from 'Chasing A Comet – The Rosetta Mission'.)
Image: 1/22, Credit:
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Philae landing on comet
Artist's impression of the Rosetta orbiter deploying the Philae lander to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (not to scale).
Image: 2/22, Credit:

ESA–C. Carreau/ATG medialab.

Comet lander Philae on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
The Rosetta orbiter has been drawing ever closer to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Now the Philae landing craft is clearly visible in the image acquired by the OSIRIS camera system.
Image: 22/22, Credit:

ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA.

Videos

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Video: Chasing a Comet – The Rosetta Mission
"It's the first time we do anything like that. The environment is totally unknown." (Andrea Accomazzo, Spacecraft Operations Manager) Among the most fascinating projects in the exploration of the Universe is the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, launched in 2004 to investigate the comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. For the first time, a spacecraft will follow a comet as it approaches the Sun and land on its nucleus. This highlight of the mission will take place in November 2014, when the small, autonomous daughter craft, Philae, lands on the comet itself. Philae was designed and built by an international consortium led by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). DLR also runs the lander control centre which is preparing for and overseeing the difficult task of landing on the comet, a feat never before accomplished. Rosetta mission: http://www.dlr.de/en/rosetta Follow Philae on Twitter at http://twitter.com/philae2014 #WakeUpRosetta #Rosetta #Philae
Image: 1/11, Credit:
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Video: Landing on a comet
After a 10-year journey of some seven billion kilometres, the Rosetta mission headed towards its next major milestone – setting the lander Philae on a comet. On 12 November 2014, a lander was scheduled to touch down on a comet for the first time in the history of spaceflight. “We don’t know exactly what awaits us there,” said lander Project Manager Stephan Ulamec from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR).
Image: 2/11, Credit:
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Video: Goodbye from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Thank you all for being a part of the journey!
Image: 11/11, Credit:

Background articles

Rosetta in figures

Rosetta started its journey to the target comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in March 2004. The mission ran until December 2015 – a total of twelve years.

Breaking ground in space research

Few things could be more fascinating or demanding in the history of European space travel than the Rosetta comet mission. Launched on 2 March 2004, the spacecraft set off on its 10-year journey to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Science objectives of the mission

The hopes are that using the Rosetta orbiter and its landing craft Philae to analyse the comet core, both of which will send back to Earth the results of chemical, physical and mineralogical examinations in addition to their images, will establish a greater understanding of the comet's origins and properties and hence the formation and evolution of the Solar System.

DLR in­volve­ment

Germany has played a key role in the Rosetta mission, contributing to the construction of instruments and also industrial contributions to the orbiter, which itself was constructed by the Prime Contractor EADS Astrium (now Airbus) in Friedrichshafen. The Philae lander was developed and built by an international consortium under the leadership of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The name of the mission

The Rosetta mission, expected to land on a comet, was named after the Rosetta Stone, which allowed hieroglyphs to be deciphered. In 1799, in the Egyptian city of Rosetta, archaeologists discovered a stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and ancient Greek). In 1822, together with the inscriptions on an obelisk from the Temple of Philae, Jean François Champollion succeeded in deciphering the, until then, enigmatic hieroglyphs.

Fascinating comets

Comets are a rare celestial spectacle. They only appear in the sky a few times over the course of a human life. And yet anyone who has seen a comet will likely never forget such an astronomical event.

Comet research

Their occurrence is unpredictable and their return uncertain. Where do comets come from? Do they even belong to the Solar System? Researchers have attempted to answer these questions throughout history.

The project Rosetta

Spacecraft grant us a deep insight into our cosmic neighbourhood and, hence, our origins. Europe set itself an ambitious goal with the Rosetta mission: to observe a comet up close for almost two years – and land on it.

Results of the mission

Scientists are particularly keen to investigate the interior of 67P's nucleus and the processes unfolding close to and at the surface.

Downloads

Brochure: Mission Rosetta (2015)

2.6 MB | PDF

COUNTDOWN 27

11.2 MB | PDF

Rosetta and Philae: Comet Chasers on Target

Participating DLR institutes and facilities

Institute of Materials Physics in Space

The Institute for Materials Physics in Space investigates the properties of melts and their solidification on all length scales using theoretical and experimental methods.

Institute of Planetary Research

Among other things, the Institute of Planetary Research deals with the exploration of the Solar System.

Space Operations and Astronaut Training

DLR Space Operations is the central institution for spaceflight operations in Germany. This responsibility includes satellite missions for Earth observation, science and communication missions as well as the exploration of the Solar System and human spaceflight missions.

Links

Contact

Elke Heinemann

Digital Communications
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Corporate Communications
Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne
Tel: +49 2203 601-1852

Dr. Ekkehard Kührt

German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Planetary Research, Asteroids and Comets
Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln

Stephan Ulamec

MMX rover scientific manager
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Space Operations and Astronaut Training
Microgravity User Support Center (MUSC)
Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling