Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko · discovered 1969
Introduction
- Type
- Jupiter-family comet; contact binary (two lobes joined by a neck).Source: [1] Wikipedia
- Discovery
- Discovered: Oct. 22, 1969 — Klim Churyumov, on a photographic plate by Svetlana Gerasimenko.Source: [2] NASA Science
Physical
- Size
- Size: ≈ 4.3 × 4.1 km at its longest and widest.Source: [1] Wikipedia
- Mass
- Mass: ≈ 10 billion tonnes; Density: ≈ 0.53 g/cm³ — about half the density of water.Source: [1] Wikipedia, [3] NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
- Rotation
- Rotation period: ≈ 12.4 hours (12.76 h before 2009).Source: [1] Wikipedia
- Surface composition
- Not measured in detail in our sources.
- Moons
- None reported in our sources.
Orbit & access
- Orbit
- Distance from Sun: ≈ 1.24 AU (perihelion) to 5.68 AU (aphelion); Orbital period: ≈ 6.4 years; Orbital inclination: ≈ 7.0°.Source: [3] NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics
- Accessibility (Δv / travel time)
- Model assumptionAbout 11.0 km/s of ideal Δv from low Earth orbit (5.42 km/s to depart + 5.53 km/s to arrive), and about 1.7 years for an ideal transfer.Model calculation from our Space Resource Intelligence (SRI) sample report: ideal two-impulse Hohmann transfer with a plane change, no gravity assists. Real trajectories differ.
- Mission history
- Spacecraft: ESA Rosetta (orbited 2014–2016) and Philae lander (landed Nov. 12, 2014).Source: [4] European Space Agency
Resources & economy
- Believed resources
- Model assumptionOur model looks at water / volatiles for propellant and life support. Usable fraction assumed at 0.1–0.3 of extracted material (bear to bull). Extractable water ice by mass from a dusty, ice-bearing nucleus; SRI assumption.SRI sample-model assumption, not a measurement.
- Economic outlook
- Model assumptionScientific value now; any resource value is long-horizon option value. Our sample model gives an NPV of about −$2,079M (bear), −$889M (base) and $11,316M (bull).Model output from our SRI sample valuation model (launch, product value, transit, extraction and discount-rate inputs are scenario assumptions, not forecasts). Not investment advice.
- Business uses
- Information products, science partnerships, and a (very long-shot) in-space resource case. See the Business page. Open →