Rosetta
Fly-by. Earth seen from above
March 2005 the european comet-probe made a fly-by of Earth. After this one of the two Navigation Cameras was switched on to test Rosetta's ability to track asteroids using the Moon as a 'dummy' asteroid.
Rosetta is scheduled to fly past two asteroids: Steins in September 2008 and Lutetia in July 2010. Then the tracking mode will be used to keep the spacecraft instruments centred on target.
Rosetta swings between Earth and Mars
This fly-by manoeuvre swung the three-tonne Rosetta spacecraft around our planet and out towards Mars, where it will make a fly-by on 26 February 2007, only to come back again to Earth. Fly-bys are necessary to accelerate the spacecraft, using planetary gravity, such that the orbital velocity of the target comet can eventually be matched.
This was the first of four planet fly-bys (three times with Earth, once with Mars) that Rosetta will carry out in its long journey to its target, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta will reach the comet in 2014, enter into orbit and deliver a lander, Philae, onto the surface.
Rosettas rendevouz with the third planet, Earth.
This image was recorded by Navigation Camera 1 at 12:45 UTC.
The field of view is 4 degrees x 4 degrees.
At this time, Rosetta was flying away from the Earth having completed the closest-ever fly-by performed by an ESA mission the day before.
Note that cloud tops are over-exposed.
At the bottom, Antarctica is visible right below South America.
