On Friday , September 30 , the historic Rosetta mission sent its last image back to Earth . Only 10 seconds later , the spacecraft crash-landed onto the 67P / Churyumov – Gerasimenko comet . The first mission to orbit a comet and send a module to land on a comet ’ s surface had successfully come to an end with an exciting grand finale . Rosetta ’ s final moments were designed to gather as much information as possible about Comet 67P . The opportunity to study a comet at such close proximity ( 15mm from the surface ) made the descent phase another fascinating feat of the mission . Rosetta ’ s controlled impact took place in the Ma ’ at region on the small lobe of comet 67P . European Space Agency ( ESA ) scientists chose this region for its scientific potential . It is home to a number of active pits that can help scientists understand their connection to the comet ’ s observed activity , as well as help scientists learn more about how these pits relate to the formation and evolution of the comet . The descent enabled Rosetta to take very high-resolution images of the comet ’ s gas , dust , and plasma environments .
Rosetta ’ s final moments were designed to gather as much data as possible about Comet 67P .
From left to right : Paolo Ferri , Andrea Accomazzo , Manfred Warhaut ( RHEA Group ), and Mark
McCaughrean in the Main Control Room at ESOC . Credit : ESA / J . Mai .
At the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt , Germany , the mission team hugged , clapped , and cried as Rosetta ’ s final moments were confirmed . “ I can announce full success of this historic descent towards 67P ,” said Rosetta mission manager Patrick Martin . “ Farewell , Rosetta , you ’ ve done the job . That was space science at its best .” The decision to end the mission is a result of Rosetta and the comet ’ s path heading away from the Sun , which limits the solar energy that the spacecraft needs to operate its instruments . Communications with the probe would have become increasingly more difficult had the mission further continued its activity . “ With the decision to take Rosetta down to the comet ’ s surface , we boosted the scientific return of the mission through this last , once-in-a-lifetime operation ,” said Martin . Now that the mission is over , it is time to analyze the enormous amounts of data gathered by Rosetta over the past two years .
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