		Site Map \| Contact Us \| Search:

JOIN

The Planetary Society Blog

By Emily Lakdawalla

Rosetta is homing in on Earth

Nov. 10, 2009 | 09:38 PST | 17:38 UTC

We need your help.
Please donate to support our blog, website, and podcast.

Weblog Archive

Heads up! ESA's Rosetta spacecraft is approaching for its last flyby of Earth, on Friday, November 13. It is now close enough that its OSIRIS high-resolution camera can resolve the Moon (and presumably Earth as well). Here's that photo of the Moon, a lovely crescent view captured on Sunday from 4.3 million kilometers away:

Click to enlarge >

Rosetta approaches the Moon, November 8, 2009
As Rosetta approached the Earth-Moon system for its third and final gravity-assist flyby in November 2009, it captured this view of a distant, crescent Moon. The Moon was 4.3 million kilometers away at the time. Credit: ESA / OSIRIS team

It's a bit small at this range, so here's a zoomed view:

Rosetta approaches the Moon, November 8, 2009
This version has been enlarged by a factor of two. Credit: ESA / OSIRIS team

Stay tuned for further news and pictures from Rosetta's upcoming Earth flyby!

Post this page to:

Comments


Name

E-mail (Will not appear online)

Title

Comment


To prevent automated Bots form spamming, please enter the text you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.

This comment form is powered by GentleSource Comment Script. It can be included in PHP or HTML files and allows visitors to leave comments on the website.

Emily's on Twitter! »