Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Photos
Sitemap
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
AFP - Sunday, July 11
Send
IM Story
Print
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
PARIS (AFP) - – The European spacecraft Rosetta performed a fly-by of a massive asteroid, the European Space Agency said, taking images that could one day help Earth defend itself from destruction.
Racing through the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter at 47,800 kph (29,925 mph), the billion-euro (1.25-billion-dollar) probe flew Saturday within 3,200 kms (2,000 miles) of the huge potato-shaped rock, Lutetia.
"The fly-by has been a spectacular success with Rosetta performing fautlessly," ESA said in a statement.
"Just 24 hours ago, Lutetia was a distant stranger. Now, thanks to Rosetta, it has become a close friend," the agency added.
Holger Sierks of Germany's Max Planck Institute, who is in charge of the spacecraft's Osiris (Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera said the more than 400 "phantastic images" showed many craters and details.
"Rosetta opened up a new world which will keep scientists busy for years," he added.
"We have completed the fly-by phase," Rosetta's director of operations Andrea Accomazzo said earlier on the ESA's website from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
The aim of the fly-by of the asteroid, measuring 134 kms (83.75 miles) in diameter, is to measure Lutetia's mass and then calculate its density, knowledge which could one day be a lifesaver, according to ESA scientists.
If a rogue asteroid enters on a collision course with Earth, knowing its density will help the planet's defenders to determine whether they should try to deflect the rock or, instead, blow it up.
As Rosetta is around half a million kilometres from Earth, the probe's signal and images took 25 minutes to be received.
Once widely dismissed as bland lumps of debris left over from the building of the planets, asteroids have turned out to be intriguingly individual.
They are extremely different in shape and size, from just hundreds of metres (yards) across to behemoths of 100 kms (60 miles) or more, and also vary in mineral flavours.
Most measurements suggest Lutetia is a "C" type of asteroid, meaning that it contains primitive compounds of carbon. But others indicate it could be an "M" type, meaning that it holds metals.
New data proving this could rewrite the theory about asteroid classification.
Metallic asteroids are far smaller than Lutetia: they are deemed to be fragments of far larger rocks that, in the bump and grind of the asteroid belt, were smashed apart.
The fly-by comes halfway through the extraordinary voyage of Rosetta, launched in 2004 on a 12-year, 7.1-billion-kilometre (4.4-billion-mile) mission.
One of the biggest gambles in the history of space exploration, the unmanned explorer is designed to meet up in 2014 with Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko 675 million kms (422 million miles) from home.
The goal is to unlock the secrets of these lonely wanderers of the cosmos, whose origins date back to the dawn of the Solar System, some 4.5 billion years ago, before planets existed.
To get to its distant meeting point, Rosetta has had to play planetary billiards for five years, using four "gravitational assists" from Earth and Mars as slingshots to build up speed.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
News Search
Top Stories
BP works to replace cap over gushing well
ECB launches offensive on eurozone economic fears
Deadly British fugitive siege under investigation
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
Spain, Holland see unity as key to World Cup final
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
Remote Easter Island braces for total solar eclipse
Painting of dead Mandela draws outrage in S.Africa
Russian spies leave US without a trace
On eve of final, S.Africa basks in World Cup success
More Most Viewed »
Reclusive top mathematician turns down prize, again
Germany's 'Octopus oracle' keeps perfect record
Aussie men shoot each other in buttocks 'to see if it hurts'
Amputee cat gets bionic legs
Fans gather for Michael Jackson death anniversary
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Sunday, 11 July 2010 Abbas says wants progress for direct Mideast talks
Mercury soars across Europe
Iran reviewing woman's stoning death sentence
Face-saving compromise lets China, Google do business
Cuba readies prisoner release; one said out of jail
|
Russian, US spies start new lives but mystery swirls
Gaza aid ship sails from Greece, may head to Egypt
|
Sudan to consider north-south confederation
Oil companies reeling from drilling moratorium uncertainty
Five US soldiers die fighting Taliban in Afghanistan
Remote Easter Island braces for total solar eclipse
French sleaze case puts spotlight on legal system
|
Abbas says wants progress for direct Mideast talks
|
On eve of final, S.Africa basks in World Cup success
Surge of attacks kills 6 US troops, 12 Afghans
6 US troops, 12 civilians killed in Afghan attacks
Indonesian president visits attacked anti-graft activist
Japan PM's party at risk of setback in Sunday vote
5.8-magnitude quake strikes off Solomon Islands
Russia-U.S. spy swap participants phone families
It's okay U.S. only got 4 for 10 in spy swap
Russian expert in spy swap 'resurfaces near London'
Apocalypse now? In US and abroad many are prepared
Remote Easter Island braces for total solar eclipse
Haitian farmers reaping hard times as hunger grows
Easter Island braces for eclipse, tourist influx
Correction: China Trade story
Surge of attacks kills 6 US troops, 12 Afghans
Cuba starts releasing group of political prisoners
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
Fidel Castro makes first appearance in four years
|
Spain, Holland see unity as key to World Cup final
Japan government at risk of setback as voters go to poll
|
NATO: 5 US troops killed in Afghanistan
Cuba begins to free small group of political prisoners
ECB launches offensive on eurozone economic fears
50 people dead in China after heavy rain
|
Russian, US spies start new lives but mystery swirls
Australia to hold boatpeople talks with East Timor
|
Second person killed in Panama labor clashes
|
Global Weather-Celsius
China demolishes Urumqi flashpoint area
Japan government at risk of setback as voters go to poll
Pakistan bombing death toll hits 105: officials
New Myanmar party splits opinion in voting debate
Sex now chief cause of Ukraine's AIDS epidemic
Remnants of war pose threat in Vietnam's Quang Tri
Adrien Brody flexes muscles in "Predators"
Suspect arrested for Philippine radio reporter's killing
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
50 people dead in China after heavy rain
Spanish director Vila wins at Czech film festival
Australia to hold boatpeople talks with East Timor
In Spain, crowds rally for Catalan autonomy
Rain, floods blamed for 50 deaths in China in July
Japan votes in election seen as test for Democrats
Usher to sing in Chinese in China debut
Interest rate hikes are Asia 'vote of confidence'
China's forex reserves hit new record
Mergers key to survival in India's crowded mobile market
New Mumbai airport plan: environment vs business
Philippines seeks boost to tourism
S.Korean finance minister upbeat on global economy
South Sudan army says kills seven in militia raids
British police probed over fugitive manhunt
Tunisia sentences eight to jail on terror charges
Judge shot dead in Dagestan
Netanyahu says will meet Egypt's Mubarak on Tuesday
Deadly British fugitive siege under investigation
Attacks kill 11 Afghan police, district chief
NATO denies Taliban ascendant as Afghan toll mounts
|
European probe Rosetta flies by asteroid: ESA
Colombia forces kill 12 rebels in early morning raid
|
Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza
|
BP works to replace cap over gushing well
Bangladesh jails police over extrajudicial killing
|
Fifteen years on, Srebrenica buries more victims
|
Taliban attacks kill 14 Afghan police: officials
|
Iraqi court seeks arrest of Iranian exiles
|
Al Qaeda claims south Yemen security HQ attack
|
Japan govt loses upper house majority: exit polls
Japan coalition govt 'loses upper house majority'
China confirms renews Google's China license
|
India ends Kashmir curfew, uneasy calm across region
New sumo tournament starts amid gambling scandal
Australia defends 'difficult' asylum-seeker plan
Taiwan's leader calls for closer ties with China
NZ house price growth slows in June
UAE high-flying airlines to create 60,000 new jobs
Clinton to honour S.Korean sailors: official
Indian govt sorry for dumping Bhopal waste in 2008
China bank lending cools in June
China's foreign reserves rise to $2.45 trillion
US-TECH Summary
China confirms renews Google's China license
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights