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Rosetta meets up with comet

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A space craft, launched 10 years ago by Russia, has finally reached a comet within our solar system.

The Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004 and reached the comet 67P on Wednesday.

During the year long orbit the space craft will tryand pick a spot on the comet’s surface to deploy a lander on to its icy surface.

Throughout human history, comets lighting up the night sky have triggered fascination and fear – but their speed and distance have made them difficult to investigate.

Bringing the spacecraft close enough to the comet was no easy feat.

With the comet, known as 67P, hurtling along at 55,000km/h, the spacecraft’s speed had to be adjusted here on earth to bring it close beside.

CHECK OUT THE KIWI KIDS SPACE PAGE

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTCxSOEr_Sw”]

Article written by  Editor

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