Rosetta due for asteroid flyby - Credits: ESA - J. Huart

 

Expect the unexpected.

That’s likely to be the case on July 10 as the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft encounters asteroid Lutetia.

The spacecraft will whisk by the object, studying it with a bevy of scientific instruments.

Lutetia will be the second asteroid studied during Rosetta’s lengthy journey. The craft made a flyby of asteroid Steins in early September 2008.

This ESA mission is on an 11-year journey to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  Rosetta was launched by an Ariane 5 booster in March of 2004.

The spacecraft is laden with a set of 11 science instruments to probe the comet’s nucleus and map its surface in fine detail.

Once on location at the comet in 2014, Rosetta will also land a package of instruments — the Philae Lander — to study some of the most primitive, unprocessed material in the Solar System. The mission will provide clues to the physical and chemical processes at work during the formation of planets, beginning 4.6 billion years ago.

Meanwhile, Rosetta is approaching asteroid Lutetia with scientists anticipating around two hours of observational opportunities. No telling what the inspection of the rocky body will reveal.

Further updates including the Rosetta blog and live web-streaming of the entire asteroid fly can be found at:

www.esa.int/rosetta

By Leonard David