Rosetta shifts from sedate circular orbits to swooping flybys

For the period of time before and after the Philae landing, Rosetta was able to orbit the comet close enough that it was in gravitationally bound orbits, circling the comet's center of gravity. As the comet's activity increases, the spacecraft has to spend most of its time farther away, performing occasional close flybys. The first of these is at 6 kilometers, on February 14.



from Planetary Society Blog http://ift.tt/1CeodVM

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