News Archive / Tagged: Comet

• Increase in ‘Oumuamua’s speed through the solar system reveals it to be a comet

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 3rd, 2018

  Scientists observing the path of 'Oumuamua,' the first known interstellar object to pass through the solar system, discovered it to be traveling faster than expected, leading them to conclude it is actually a comet that received a boost in speed through outgassing.

• Wayward Philae: ESA’s stranded comet lander wakes up from hibernation

  Tomasz NowakowskiJune 14th, 2015

  It had been seven months without any word from the European Space Agency’s Philae lander – until yesterday. ESA scientists, on Saturday, June 13 at 4:28 p.m. EDT (20:28 GMT), received the first signals from the lost spacecraft since it had suddenly went silent three days after touching down on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Nov. 12, […]

• Alice in cometland: NASA spectrograph on Rosetta spacecraft makes atmospheric discovery

  Tomasz NowakowskiJune 6th, 2015

  Just like the girl adventurer in Lewis Carroll’s famous novel, Nasa’s Alice instrument aboard Esa’s Rosetta spacecraft takes measurements to unveil the wonderful world of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, full of peculiar features and yet uncovered atmospheric mysteries. 

• Philae phone home: scientists will try to contact the comet lander on March 12

  Tomasz NowakowskiMarch 11th, 2015

  The European Space Agency (ESA) led Rosetta Mission made history last year by becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and deploy a lander onto its surface. The Philae lander touched down on the comet’s surface on Nov. 19, 2014. The washing-machine sized lander’s anchoring system failed to deploy and the probe bounced across […]

• Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Celebrating the anniversary of another comet first – the Stardust spacecraft

  Joe LatrellJanuary 3rd, 2015

  A worldwide comet frenzy has been going on for the past few months. After reaching comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Rosetta successfully deployed the Philae lander on November 12, 2014. This month, the comet Lovejoy makes its grand appearance close to the constellation Orion. Discovered by amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy, the comet should spectacular sight for astronomers and […]

• ESA scientist Matt Taylor: Rosetta instrument will make invaluable discoveries

  Tomasz NowakowskiDecember 23rd, 2014

  On Dec. 10, the European Space Agency (ESA ) announced the latest discovery regarding comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The Rosetta spacecraft that is currently orbiting the comet has found the water vapor from its target to be significantly different to water found on Earth. The discovery made by Rosetta’s Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA ) fuels the […]

• OPINION: ESA’s comet landing highlights a public accustomed to less

  Collin SkocikNovember 16th, 2014

  On Nov. 12, 2014, history was made. The Philae lander detached from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft and landed on Comet 67P, or Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This was the culmination of a space project decades in the making. The Rosetta spacecraft was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket on Mar. 2, 2004, from the Guiana Space […]

• ESA’s Rosetta mission poised to ‘harpoon’ a comet

  James RiceNovember 11th, 2014

  On Wednesday, Nov. 12, after a journey of nearly 11 years and an estimated 4 billion miles – scientists will attempt its first ever landing upon a comet. This double lobed icy body has been named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and it is about 2.5 miles across. If all goes according to plan, it will be one of the largest […]