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Rosetta Steins fly-by timeline

2 September 2008

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Rosetta’s trajectory towards asteroid Steins

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This diagram shows the approach of Rosetta’s spacecraft to asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008. Steins is located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The encounter took place during Rosetta’s first incursion into the main asteroid belt while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Credits: ESA, image by C.Carreau

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Artist’s impression of Rosetta as it flies by asteroid Steins

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ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft flew by asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008 at 20:58 CEST, ground received time (= spacecraft time CEST + 20 minutes), with a closest approach distance of 800 km.

Steins is Rosetta’s first nominal scientific target. The spacecraft encountered the asteroid in the course of its first incursion into the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The study of asteroids is extremely important because they represent a sample of Solar System material at different stages of evolution – key to understanding the origin of our own planet and of our planetary neighbourhood.

Credits: ESA, image by C.Carreau

Rosetta Blog

ESA's comet chaser

Where is Rosetta now?

Rosetta spacecraft meets asteroid Steins Rosetta starts tracking asteroid Steins Intense preparations for Rosetta's asteroid visit Rosetta awakes from hibernation for asteroid encounter The Moon and Europe - Rosetta OSIRIS images Rosetta: OSIRIS’ view of Earth by night

OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System)Debris of the Solar System: Asteroids Asteroids: The discovery of asteroids Asteroids: Families of asteroids Asteroids: Structure and composition of asteroids