Remembering ROSETTA

On 3 November, the Sun will once again be graced by a visit from one of the Solar System’s frozen travellers – Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Like all comets, 67P is a fragment left over from the creation of the planets; a time capsule containing a hint of what the Solar System was like during its formation 4.5 billion years ago.

By understanding comets, astronomers can piece together the history of our planetary system. So in 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched a mission to 67P and began the most detailed exploration of a comet ever undertaken. The comet would act as a Rosetta Stone – a key that would allow them to unlock the secrets of all other comets – so the mission was called Rosetta.

Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P on 6 August 2014 and spent more than two years circling the comet as it drew closer to the Sun. The spacecraft watched the surface sublimate, turning straight from ice to gas, creating its