Chasing A Comet

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.