Space Topics: Rosetta
The Year in Pictures: 2009
Crescent Homeworld
Crescent Earth from Rosetta
Credit: ESA ©2009 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / RSSD / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA
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Rosetta viewed Earth in a thin crescent phase as it approached for its November
13, 2009 flyby. Pack ice near Antarctica reflects sunlight like a mirror, making
the bright, orange-tinged flashes near the center of the illuminated area.
This flyby was Rosetta's last gravity assist maneuver, but several years of
cruising remain until its May 2014 rendezvous with comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Rosetta will orbit the comet and drop a lander named Philae.
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