Britannica AI Icon

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

comet

Quick Summary

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a comet that the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft studied extensively. Launched in 2004, Rosetta's mission was to explore this comet, which it reached in 2014. The comet has a distinctive "rubber-duck" shape, formed by the joining of two smaller comets. Rosetta discovered molecular oxygen and organic molecules, including the amino acid glycine, on Comet 67P. The spacecraft orbited the comet for over two years before concluding its mission with a controlled crash in 2016. Rosetta's findings provided insights into the early solar system and the composition of comets.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.