Three years after the Rosetta mission officially ended in 2016, scientists met at ESA’s ESTEC facility in The Netherlands to discuss the latest findings at the final Science Working Team (SWT) meeting.

From the launch in 2004, to its arrival at comet 67P in 2014, Rosetta has been an emotional and inspiring mission. Its findings have furthered our understanding of comets and changed our perceptions of how the Solar System formed.

The mission produced an enormous amount of data which will keep many scientists busy for years. The OSIRIS camera, for example, took 100 000 images. These are archived - with the analysis of images recently providing further insight into the comet’s activity. 

Rosetta’s legacy of cometary science and data is not just continuing to produce more work, however, it’s also inspiring the next generation of scientists. Some began working on Rosetta as students and are now taking their experience forward onto ESA’s future Comet Interceptor mission.

The film contains soundbites from Cecilia Tubiana (OSIRIS instrument, Rosetta/Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research); Kathrin Altwegg (ROSINA instrument, Rosetta/University of Bern); Matt Taylor (Rosetta Project Scientist, ESA); Thurid Mannel (MIDAS instrument, Rosetta/Space Research Institute, Graz); Charlotte Goetz (Research Fellow, ESA).

Further insight into the comet's activity