Comet 67P on 4 June, as viewed by Rosetta's narrow-angle camera. Wednesday 18 June saw the successful 4th thruster burn, out of a planned series of ten. This mid-course correction brought the spacecraft within 165,000 km of Comet 67P/Churnyumov Gerasimenko (on Thursday 19 June), which is around 43% of the Earth-moon distance. Despite the fact that this is a very small distance on an astronomical scale, nevertheless the accompanying narrow-angle camera image shows the comet as a star-like object only 1 or 2 pixels across. The camera used is primarily an important scientific payload, but during this phase of the approach to the comet it will be used extensively to aid the spacecraft's guidance and navigation.
Norminal arrival in orbit around the comet is planned for 6 August - the show is about to begin!
Norminal arrival in orbit around the comet is planned for 6 August - the show is about to begin!
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