Rosetta comes to rest on Churyumov–Gerasimenko, September 30, 2016
Data as of 2026-10-23
The instant
- Instant (UTC)
- September 30, 2016, 10:39:34 UTC
- Distance from the centre of Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- 2.025 km
From this second on, the distance between Rosetta and the centre of Churyumov–Gerasimenko no longer changes: the trajectory holds the spacecraft on the body, carried along by its rotation, until the trajectory ends.
Its speed meanwhile, 25 cm/s, is that of a point of the surface: at this distance, with the rotation period Galaxy displays for Churyumov–Gerasimenko, a point on the equator moves at 28 cm/s, and a point at higher latitude more slowly.
In Galaxy
Open Rosetta at this instant, at true scale
Pages of the spacecraft and of the body:
How it is measured
The position and velocity of the spacecraft relative to the body are read from Horizons every minute around its closest approach, then every second. The contact is the first run of at least three seconds during which the spacecraft neither approaches the centre of the body nor recedes from it by more than 2 mm/s.
Source
NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics, Horizons System. Read on October 23, 2026.
Trajectory solution cited by Horizons: rosetta_merged