About a decade ago, the European Space Agency made a date to meet up with Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. After ten years and billions of miles, the agency’s Rosetta spacecraft caught up with its target on Wednesday.
“After ten years, five months and four days travelling towards our destination, looping around the Sun five times and clocking up 6.4 billion kilometres, we are delighted to announce finally ‘we are here’,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General in a statement.
The Rosetta spacecraft and comet are now traveling together at about 34,000 miles per hour, and the ESA is currently scouting locations on the comet for a robotic lander to make its new home come November.
The hope is that the “treasure chest of scientific discovery” that will come with the mission will help aid in the study of comets and even the exploration of our origins.
We at Other World Computing, of course, are watching this story closely and look forward to the incredible discoveries the ESA will make in the coming months and beyond!
Rosetta arrives at comet destination