philae
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All The Incredible Things We Learned From Our First Trip To A Comet
The historic Rosetta mission has finally come to an end. Over the past two years, the probe’s many instruments have scanned virtually every nook and cranny of this weirdly shaped rock, unleashing a treasure trove of new information about comets in general, and 67P/Churyumov — Gerasimenko in particular.
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We Found The Building Blocks Of Life On A Comet
Last week, a slew of scientific papers told the story of comet lander Philae’s bumpy touchdown, comet 67P’s surprisingly fluffy surface, and — most exciting — the discovery of life’s building blocks there. We haven’t found life. But we may have found part of life’s origin story, buried on this icy rock.
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Stunning Close-Up Comet Photos From Rosetta’s High-Speed Flyby
The Rosetta probe has been consistently blowing our puny little minds with photos beamed back from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but these new photos, taken as Rosetta conducted a low-altitude flyby, give a whole new perspective.
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The Camera Rosetta Is Using To Explore A Comet Is Hilariously Outdated
Rosetta’s journey to intercept a comet took 4 billion miles and 10 years. When it left Earth, there was no iPhone, no YouTube, no GoPro. The camera now beaming back exclusive comet photos? It has 1/1000 of the storage capacity of a modern USB stick.