• Key Information

  • 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

  • Type
    Comet
  • Dimensions
    Large lobe: 2.5 mi × 2.1 mi × 1.1 mi, Smallest lobe: 1.6 mi × 1.4 mi × 1.1 mi
  • Orbit Time
    6.44 years
  • Orbit
    321,910,000 miles (average)
  • Date of Discovery
    20 September 1969
  • Other Names
    1969 R1, 1969 IV, 1969h, 1975 P1, 1976 VII, 1975i, 1982 VIII, 1982f, 1989 VI, 1988i
  • Learning Point
  • 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is a comet
  • Project
  • What are the challenges of flying to and landing on a comet?
  • Location
  • Located in
    Solar System, Milky Way
  • Fun Facts
  • Cheops is the largest boulder on the surface of the comet, measuring up to 148 feet. It was named for the pyramid in Giza because its shape is similar to that of a pyramid.
  • The spacecraft Rosetta was sent to meet up with the comet after a 10 year journey, launching in 2004 and arriving in 2014.
  • The lander probe Philae was the first craft to land on a comet, doing so on 12 November 2014.
  • Rosetta took many photographs helping us understand so much more about this comet, and how other comets are constructed and how they behave.