Rosetta's final landing spot on comet revealed in new image

A new image of the cratered surface which will be the Rosetta spacecraft’s final resting place has been revealed as the spacecraft heads for a bumpy landing.

The latest image was taken at around 8am BST from an altitude of about 8.9 km above the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

It shows the spacecraft is on track to impact its target in the Ma’at region of the comet, which is littered with boulders and deep active pits known to produce jets of gas and dust.

The  quest is expected to end with a crunch at around 11.38am UK time (10.38GMT) on Friday, after scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) set the orbiter on a collision course with the rubber duck-shaped chunk of ice and dust on Thursday evening.

Confirmation of the spacecraft’s death is not expected until later because of the time it takes for radio signals from Rosetta to reach Earth.

Farewell

It will share its resting place with a tiny lander, Philae, it dispatched onto the surface nearly two years ago, spelling the end of the daring expedition that began in 2004. Philae was finally spotted on the comet’s surface earlier this month.

A note signed by the team and left on the main control room door at the European Space Operations Centre said: “Farewell Rosetta! We will miss you.”

Mission controllers transmitted the final commands – 249 lines of instructions – to the orbiter at around 5.40am.

Despite travelling at walking pace the craft is not designed for landing and will not survive.

Rosetta will remain crumpled and lifeless on the surface of the comet as the object, a dirty chunk of ice and dust measuring 4.5 km across, carries it on repeated circuits of the solar system that may continue for millions of years.

The decision to crash the spacecraft was taken because the comet is now heading so far from the Sun that soon its solar panels will not be able to generate enough power to keep it functioning.