European Spacecraft's Comet Close-up a World First | The Institute for Creation Research

European Spacecraft's Comet Close-up a World First

After a ten-year-long flight, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft entered into orbit around a comet. It will soon attempt to actually land a probe on the comet's surface. Though data-gathering has only just begun, the comet is already divulging secrets.

ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain told ESA, "Europe's Rosetta is now the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous with a comet, a major highlight in exploring our origins. Discoveries can start."1

But the list of discoveries that the ESA expects may be too lofty for a lowly comet. Space.com quoted Mark McCaughrean, a senior scientific adviser for ESA, as saying during an August 6 webcast, "The really big questions here are, 'Where do we come from? Where does the solar system we live in come from? How was it put together? How was it assembled? How did the planets get built up individually, and how did water get to this planet that we live on?'"2

ESA News said, "Comets are considered to be primitive building blocks of the Solar System and may have helped to 'seed' Earth with water, perhaps even the ingredients for life. But many fundamental questions about these enigmatic objects remain, and through a comprehensive in situ study of the comet, Rosetta aims to unlock the secrets within."1

Could the secrets of this comet's structure, composition and behavior really supply answers to such grand questions?

Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, named after its discoverers, already presents more questions than answers. As the Rosetta spacecraft approached the comet, it measured gas and dust near the comet for six weeks. "In the same period, first measurements from the Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter, MIRO, suggested that the comet was emitting water vapour into space at about 300 millilitres per second," according to the ESA.1

That's over six-thousand gallons per day! At that rate, the whole comet—assuming it's made entirely of water ice—would melt into space after only hundreds of thousands years. The dumbbell-shaped mass spans two and a half miles across its longest axis. If this comet was really a "primitive building block of the Solar System," then it's supposedly 4.5 billion years old. Why is it still around if it keeps getting smaller as it swings around the sun every six and a half years?

Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko's mass shrinks not only from water-vapor loss, but solar wind also blows away material as it orbits nearer the sun—between Earth and Mars when it's closest. If it's really billions of years old, why isn't this comet old, cold, and dead—why does it exist at all? Rosetta's investigation has not yet entered full swing, and already reveals the comet as looking young, warm, and alive.3

No wonder Matt Taylor, ESA's Rosetta project scientist said, "Our first clear views of the comet have given us plenty to think about."1

References

  1. Bauer, M. Rosetta Arrives at Comet Destination. European Space Agency. Posted on esa.int August 6, 2014, accessed August 6, 2014. 
  2. Kramer, M. 5 Amazing Facts about Europe's Comet-Chasing Rosetta Probe. Space.com. Posted on space.com August 6, 2014, accessed August 6, 2014.
  3. The ESA article in reference 1 says, "Meanwhile, the Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, VIRTIS, measured the comet's average temperature to be about –70ºC, indicating that the surface is predominantly dark and dusty rather than clean and icy." This temperature is warmer than the space around the comet at its current position, so these scientists suggest that dark dust absorbs enough light to raise the comet's temperature to 70 C.

Image credit: European Space Agency

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on August 13, 2014.

The Latest
NEWS
Dino Footprints Down Under
Dinosaur trackways1 are once again making the news. Australia is the setting of a remarkable series of dinosaur tracks attributed to ornithischian...

NEWS
April 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things...

NEWS
Human Evolution and the Inner Ear
The vain attempt by evolutionists to make an evolutionary connection between people and ape-like ancestors continues. This time, it is in regard to...

CREATION PODCAST
Defending the Faith with a Rocket Scientist | Creation.Live Podcast:...
How do engineering principles, biological complexity, and a solid understanding of apologetics work together to further the cause of Christ? Why...

NEWS
Aerobic and Anaerobic Hot Spring Bacteria
God designed a domain of prokaryotes called Archaea that thrive in harsh and extreme environments. In 1969, two microbiologists, Thomas Brock and Hudson...

CREATION PODCAST
The Soulless Hominid Theory: A Fatal Flaw in Old Earth Creationism...
Welcome to the second episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit...

NEWS
Humpback Whale Calls Echo Creation
There is nothing simple about the system of communication called language, whether animal or human.1 Human language is a very sophisticated...

NEWS
Mary Parker, Creation Ministry Partner of Dr. Gary Parker, Is...
Mary Parker, the wife and co-laborer of Dr. Gary Parker, went home to be with her Lord on March 20, 2025. Dr. Parker was a popular and effective...

NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...