Finally 10 years after being sent to space the European probe Rosetta arrived on Wednesday at the historic meeting with comet Churyumov Guerasimenko at 400 million kilometers from Earth. On Wednesday morning, 06 / 08, the European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that the engine will be commissioned to perform a main maneuver. After 6 minutes and 26 seconds, the probe must be placed safely in orbit at 100 kilometers from the surface of the comet. ESA explained that the approach phase will be completed at this distance, meaning that the device has hit the comet.
Space apparatuses passed repeatedly off several comets without any of them orbiting them. According to a representative of the agency responsible for the Rosetta mission flight program, the main objective of the current phase of the project is to study the characteristics of the space body. This will allow experts to prepare for the crucial phase of the project - to search for a spot on the comet's surface to land the Philae module.
The landing of the Philae module is expected to take place in November of 2014. Once on the surface of the comet, the Philae will study its environment and its soil. The scientific data obtained through this project will become a valuable contribution to the study of the early stages of the existence of the Universe.
This step is marked by one of the most ambitious projects ever developed by the European space agency and we hope that Africa will soon be able to evolve in several projects for space exploration.
[Source]: Voice of Russia
