#cometselfie

The European comet chaser, Rosetta, shot this legendary ‘selfie’ on 7 October 2014. In the foreground you can see its Dutch-built solar panels. In the background is the mission’s destination: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. At the time the photo was taken, the distance to the comet surface was just sixteen kilometres. Rosetta had already completed a ten-year journey of more than six billion kilometres.

More information about Rosetta, one of Europe’s most successful space science missions, is available here.

Lesson material about the comet chaser and its target is available for schools. You can find it via this link.