The Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Perhaps the strangest solar system object ever observed up close in the course of the space age. It was the target of the Rosetta probe, whose 10-year journey began in March 2004, under the sponsorship of the European Space Agency.
The probe is now orbiting the nucleus of 67P, and investigators hope to confirm the comet’s link to the very origins of our solar system. In this brief overview of the Rosetta Mission, David Talbott begins a series of reports on the continuing surprises facing comet theorists.
