Rosetta reveals a lot of information about comet 67P
The European Space Agency's spacecraft is continuously returning fascinating images and information related to composition and the activities on comet 67P that appear rubber duck shaped. It's been a year since Rosetta first entered orbit around the comet.
The Philae lander was having an uncontrolled landing and has had irregular contact with Earth; however, Rosetta continued returning a lot of scientific data regarding the comet. There had been a hypothesis that the reason behind water on Earth was comets. It was overturned after a major finding of the Rosetta spacecraft.
After Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, one assumption is that water would have been present there following Earth cooled down, probably as a result of collisions with asteroids and comets. The chemical structure of water vapor on the comet was analyzed by instruments of the Rosetta spacecraft. The instruments also found that the comet's water was not like the signature of Earth's water.
According to Nicolas Altobelli, acting Rosetta project scientist, "A year of observations near to the comet has provided us with a wealth of information about it. This mission is about scientific discovery and every day there is something new to wonder at and try to understand".
Researchers are expecting that Rosetta will be at front when the icy material is warmed by the sun and is turned into vapor; comets are composed of dust and ice. As per the European Space Agency, the consequential gas and dust could lead to creation of "fuzzy atmosphere".