Thomas hopes that the results compiled by his team will not only help to improve understanding of comets but will also help to prepare for the next mission to an inner solar system interloper.
“One thing that is really clear is that Rosetta was not able to provide certain observations,” he said. He cited the lack of a thermal-infrared mapper instrument, which could map temperature changes across the comet and study emitted heat, as one such loss. “But we also see that other measurements are really vital if you are to model and understand active processes on cometary nuclei,” he said.
MiARD researchers are now working on a research paper about what questions Rosetta answered and what it failed to resolve. These insights could make an important impact on proposed comet missions.
“I personally don’t believe that one mission can answer everything, but I hope the work will provide impetus for a new mission,” Thomas said. “Our project demonstrated that we still have a lot to learn.”
This article originally appeared on Discovermagazine.com.