From launch to encounter

From launch to encounter

Rosetta's ten-year journey started on 2 March 2004, with an Ariane 5 launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Rosetta then circled the Sun and gained velocity from the gravitational ‘kicks’ provided by a complex series of close flybys of Earth and Mars. On its long journey Rosetta also entered the asteroid belt twice and passed close to asteroids Steins and Lutetia, obtaining unprecedented views and scientific data on these rocky objects.

Operating on solar energy alone, Rosetta was placed into deep space hibernation in June 2011 as it cruised out to a distance of nearly 800 million km from the warmth of the Sun, beyond the orbit of Jupiter.

Thirty-one months later, on 20 January 2014, Rosetta “woke up” from hibernation in order to prepare for its rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as they both head back into the inner Solar System. Between May and August a critical sequence of ten major manoeuvres were carried out to match Rosetta’s trajectory and velocity with that of the comet. Thus on 6 August 2014, the spacecraft rendezvoused with the comet at a distance of 100 km. Since then, the spacecraft has moved progressively closer to the comet, and is now preparing to deploy its lander Philae to the comet’s surface. Philae will be released on 12 November 2014, and  once anchored to the surface it will send back high-resolution images and perform in situ analysis.

Rosetta will follow the comet throughout the remainder of 2015, including its closest passage to the Sun in August, to witness how it changes when subjected to increased solar radiation.

Image captions

Launch from Europe’s Spaceport 2004

First Earth flyby 2005

Mars flyby 2007

Second Earth flyby 2007

Flyby Asteroid Steins 2008

Third Earth flyby 2009

Flyby Asteroid Lutetia 2010