Rosetta spacecraft orbits comet

Close-up detail of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded Aug. 6, 2014. The image shows the comet’s ‘head’ at the left of the frame, which is casting shadow onto the ‘neck’ and ‘body’ to the right.

Satellite orbits comet

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, nicknamed "Chury," as seen by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 3 August from a distance of 285 km. The image resolution is 5.3 metres/pixel.

Satellite orbits comet

Full-frame NAVCAM image taken from a distance of about 300 km from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Aug. 3, 2014.

The Sun is towards the bottom of the image in this orientation.

Satellite orbits comet

Close up detail focusing on a smooth region on the ‘base’ of the ‘body’ section of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera and downloaded Aug. 6, 2014. The image clearly shows a range of features, including boulders, craters and steep cliffs.

The image was taken from a distance of 130 km and the image resolution is 2.4 metres per pixel.

Satellite orbits comet

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on 3 August from a distance of 285 km. The comet is between Mars and Jupiter and has taken a decade for the satellite to reach it.

Satellite orbits comet

Experts watch their screens at the control center of the European Space Agency, ESA, in Darmstadt, Germany, Aug. 6, 2014. A mission to land the first space probe on a comet reached a major milestone when the unmanned Rosetta spacecraft finally caught up with its quarry. Rosetta flew into space more than a decade ago and had to perform a series of complex maneuvers to gain enough speed to chase down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun.