Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a comet that orbits the sun every 6.6 years and the European Space Agency plans to land a spacecraft named Rosetta on its nucleus in November 2014.
Some interesting facts taken from the ESA website:
-The comet's perihelion distance was 4 AU before 1840 but due to encounters with Jupiter, it's perihelion distance is now 1.29 AU.
-Its nucleus is estimated at 5 by 3 km.
-It is unusually active for a short-period comet.
-Landing Rosetta on the comet will require four gravity assist maneuvers.

For all the details on the comet, click on this link: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=14615
For the Rosetta mission information go here: http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=13

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