NetMassimo Blog Archives for July 16th, 2014

The Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft captured by the Canadarm2 robotic arm from the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

Mission Orb-2 accomplished: the Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft has reached the International Space Station

Massimo Luciani July 16, 2014 1

The Cygnus spacecraft, launched on July 13, has just reached the International Space Station and was captured by the robotic arm Canadarm2. Commander Steve Swanson and flight engineer Alexander Gerst started the slow maneuver that will move Cygnus until it docks with the Station’s Harmony node after about two hours.

Assemblage of pictures that show the binary nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken by the Rosetta space probe (Image ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA)

The Rosetta space probe has revealed the double nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Massimo Luciani July 16, 2014 1

ESA’s Rosetta space probe awakened in January 2014 after a journey that lasted almost ten years. In recent weeks, it started sending pictures of its target, the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Yesterday, CNES, the French space agency, published a composition of photos taken on July 11 which show that the comet is composed of two nuclei that are attached, a fact that makes the Rosetta mission even more extraordinary.