The 411 on 67P

Story by Alana McClellan, Nija Lemons, Jewel McKissick and Gregory Granberry, FNN Chamberlain Bureau.  Photos from bbc.com and nasa.gov.

JANUARY 7, 2015: Another historical moment for space exploration is the landing of the small robot, Philae  on the comet 67 P.  While reading and researching this story we found out tons of new facts. One of our favorite facts is below.

It took ten years for Philae to land on the comet 67P.

The Philae from the Rosetta mission by the European Space Agency has landed on a comet after 10 years of experimenting and trying. The Philae landed on the comet on November 12, 2014.

The European Space Agency made progress in the Rosetta Mission. The European Space Agency is a group of 20 countries together that focus on the exploration of space. They were founded on May 30, 1975. The CEO of the company is Jean-Jacques Dordain (wikipedia).

The comet’s full name is 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  Scientists will be taking images of the comet and collecting information about the comet to better understand the properties and much more. They have landed on the 67P because they were trying to achieve the mission of having a robot land on a comet to monitor its every move.  

This is a historical event for us because it is the first time we have ever landed anything on a comet.This is important because we can collect data on comets and the galaxy as the robot a.k.a. Philae continues its journey. The  mission’s main goal is to understand how the solar system was formed.

To learn more about this historical event go to: www.esa.int

http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2014/11/Paxi_-_Rosetta_and_comets

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18898

Jewel McKissick and Gregory Granberry are seventh grade scholars, Alana McClellan is an eighth grade scholar, Nija Lemons is a third grade scholar at Friendship Chamberlain Academy.