Insect Research Systems Ltd

General information

What is Rosetta's mission?
Rosetta is ESA’s comet-chasing mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will be the first mission ever to orbit a comet’s nucleus and land a probe on its surface. It will also be the first spacecraft to fly alongside a comet as it heads towards the inner Solar System, watching how this icy object is transformed by the warmth of the Sun.

Why do we care about comets?
Comets are considered the primitive building blocks of the Solar System, and likely helped ‘seed’ the Earth with water, and maybe even life. By studying the nature of the comet’s dust and gas, Rosetta will help scientists learn more about the role of comets in the evolution of the Solar System.

Who is involved?
The orbiter's scientific payload is provided by scientific consortia from institutes across Europe and the United States. The lander is provided by a European consortium headed by the German Aerospace Research Institute (DLR). Other members of the consortium are ESA, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and institutes from Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA is an international organisation with 20 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada takes part in some projects under a Cooperation agreement. Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia are ‘European Cooperating States’. Other countries have signed cooperation agreements with ESA.