Landing on a Comet
A comet is an icy, small solar system body that, when passing close to the sun, warms and begins to release gases. This produces a visible atmosphere and sometimes also a tail. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from the earth without the aid of a telescope.
Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures. ”Halley’s Comet” is the only known short period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from earth every 75–76 years. Europian Space Agency’s(ESA) “Rosetta” became the first ever to land a robotic spacecraft on a comet.
On November 12, 2014, ”Rosetta” spacecraft and “Philae” lander made history. The lander successfully made it to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko. The Philae lander beamed back a significant amount of science during its short time initially functioning on the comet. Philae found hints of organic molecules in the comet’s atmosphere.
Public Broadcasting Service(PBS) aired a documentary called “To Catch a Comet” about the Rosetta mission. On September 30, 2016, the mission ended in an attempt to slow land on the comet’s surface. Despite being a revolutionary step,most of the people do not know about this mission.
