BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Rosetta's Story – Facts for Kids

It's gone where no space mission has been before! Rosetta caught up with a comet in deep space and went into orbit around it. The lander Philae was the first ever to land on a comet. Read the story so far and watch out for new developments.

Rosetta's Story – Facts for Kids

I had a little laugh the other day when - excitement! - ESA released a picture of Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko "in living color"! Having assumed that the comet was grey, I wasn't astonished to see this composite photo made using three color filters. Surprise. It is grey.

It was more of a surprise when astronomers saw an image of a comet nucleus for the first time and realized how very dark they are. Comets are so reflective when they near the Sun, people expected a lighter color. In fact, they're darker than coal - and that includes Comet C-G.

Rosetta and Philae aren't due to resume their adventures until the new year, so I didn't think there would be anything to report.

But season's greetings from the mission team at ESA include an adorable cartoon of Christmas at the comet which I can't resist sharing.

Did you see Comet Hale-Bopp years ago? Remember how bright it looked? If you've seen Comet Lovejoy this year, you found it because - although it was blurry - of its light. But have a look at this picture. Can you see the comet? Pictures of Earth, Saturn's moon Enceladus, our Moon and Rosetta's comet C-G have been adjusted to show their true brightness.

Comets are dark. And Churyumov-Gerasimenko makes coal look like a shining beacon by comparison. If you really want to talk about darkness, don't say "as black as coal", but rather "as black as Rosetta's comet"!

. . .Eleven years ago today - March 2, 2004 - the European Space Agency's comet hunter Rosetta was launched.
Rosetta was over ten years on the journey to the comet, but now she is orbiting Comet C-G as it heads into the inner Solar System. And the lander Philae is somewhere asleep on the comet. Perhaps the Sun's light will reach him one day and he'll awaken.

This picture is quite fantastic - didn't realize that our moon was as dull as it is in comparison with Enceladus. And as for the Comet Lovejoy - no, I would have missed it for sure given that I even knew what I was looking for.

I think I should sign off 'crick in the neck'...

Thanks for your writing Mona,

Cheers

Once upon a time . . . . Well, have a look for yourself to see what happened. And then pass on to any kids you know the little cartoon video about Rosetta and Philae. This is new from the European Space Agency (ESA) and although the cartoon is adorable, the facts are correct. Such a nice way of telling the story. One of the comments was: I'm not crying, there's just some comet dust in my eye... ;) Awwww.

Tomorrow, March 12th, scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) will make the first attempt to contact the stranded comet lander Philae. Stephan Ulamec, Lander Project Manager, thinks that they have a good chance of contacting Philae again, but realistically, expects success is more likely in May. They're using the images from Philae's camera and data collected in November to try to work out where the lander is. Unfortunately, it hasn't shown up in any of Rosetta's images.