Rosetta Gets Closer Than Ever to Comet, Sends Back Incredible Pictures

http://bit.ly/1zfNXza Rosetta takes a selfie with its target comet in the background. This photo was taken last year as the spacecraft orbited the comet. The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft came close enough to almost kiss a comet on Valentine's Day this year. In fact, it was the closest that Rosetta has ever and will ever get to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The event marks the beginning of a new phase in Rosetta's mission. On February 14, the spacecraft came to within 3.7 miles of the comet's surface — 10 times closer than when Rosetta closed in on its target last year to deploy the Philae probe, which is the first probe to ever soft land on a comet making history when it did on November 12. This time around Rosetta's NAVCAM instrument took over a dozen close-up shots of the comet's arresting surface features — and they are some of the best photos we've ever seen. Rosetta began prepping for closest approach on February 4 when it fired its thrusters to break course from its current flight path. This is what Rosetta saw a couple of days later, on February 6, from 77 miles away: http://yhoo.it/1AVP77u