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\nIt is always reassuring to catch that first familiar glimpse of home after a great adventure, but for our space-faring satellites the return visit is brief and of a practical nature: to use the planet\u2019s immense gravity to sling it onto a new trajectory.\n<\/p>\n
\nThese \u2018gravity assists<\/a>\u2019 are fleeting encounters, but enough to change the spacecraft\u2019s speed and direction such that it can eventually enter orbit around another world.\n<\/p>\n \nThis delicate view of Earth was captured in 2007 on the second of three Earth flybys made by ESA\u2019s comet-chasing Rosetta<\/a> spacecraft on its ten year journey to Comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft also got a boost from Mars to set it on course with its destination.\n<\/p>\n \nThe first ever interplanetary gravity slingshot took place on 5 February 1974, when NASA\u2019s Mariner 10 flew past Venus en route to flybys of Mercury. The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo<\/a> mission \u2013 whose name is inherited from Giuseppe Colombo who originally proposed to NASA the interplanetary trajectories that would allow Mariner-10 multiple Mercury flybys by using gravity assists at Venus \u2013 will make nine flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury to reach the innermost planet and eventually enter orbit about it.\n<\/p>\n \nSimilarly, ESA\u2019s upcoming Solar Orbiter<\/a> mission will use Venus gravity assists to change its inclination to get a better look at the Sun\u2019s poles. And ESA\u2019s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer<\/a> will first dive into the inner Solar System to use Earth, Venus and Mars to set course for the gas giant Jupiter.\n<\/p>\n \nBut Earth remains home to a fleet of satellites busy performing a number of different activities from orbit: while some are peering far away into the cosmos, our Earth Observation missions<\/a> are watching diligently over our precious planet, taking its \u2018pulse\u2019 and helping us to better understand how to care for it. The Sun-illuminated crescent seen around Antarctica in this beautiful image certainly evokes a feeling of fragility and reminds us of our special place in space.\n<\/p>\n \nThe image was taken by the OSIRIS camera on Rosetta about two hours before closest approach during the 13 November 2007<\/a> flyby, when the spacecraft was 75 000 km from Earth. The mission went on to become the first to rendezvous with and land on a comet, and the first to follow and study a comet on its orbit around the Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nIt is always reassuring to catch that first familiar glimpse of home after a great adventure, but for our space-faring satellites the return visit is brief and of a practical nature: to use the planet’s immense gravity to sling it onto a new trajectory.\n<\/p>\n \nThese ‘gravity assists<\/a>’ are fleeting encounters, but enough to change the spacecraft’s speed and direction such that it can eventually enter orbit around another world.\n<\/p>\n \nThis delicate view of Earth was captured in 2007 on the second of three Earth flybys made by ESA’s comet-chasing Rosetta<\/a> spacecraft on its ten year journey to Comet 67P\/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft also got a boost from Mars to set it on course with its destination.\n<\/p>\n \nThe first ever interplanetary gravity slingshot took place on 5 February 1974, when NASA’s Mariner 10 flew past Venus en route to flybys of Mercury. The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo<\/a> mission – whose name is inherited from Giuseppe Colombo who originally proposed to NASA the interplanetary trajectories that would allow Mariner-10 multiple Mercury flybys by using gravity assists at Venus – will make nine flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury to reach the innermost planet and eventually enter orbit about it.\n<\/p>\n \nSimilarly, ESA’s upcoming Solar Orbiter<\/a> mission will use Venus gravity assists to change its inclination to get a better look at the Sun’s poles. And ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer<\/a> will first dive into the inner Solar System to use Earth, Venus and Mars to set course for the gas giant Jupiter.\n<\/p>\n \nBut Earth remains home to a fleet of satellites busy performing a number of different activities from orbit: while some are peering far away into the cosmos, our Earth Observation missions<\/a> are watching diligently over our precious planet, taking its ‘pulse’ and helping us to better understand how to care for it. The Sun-illuminated crescent seen around Antarctica in this beautiful image certainly evokes a feeling of fragility and reminds us of our special place in space.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n