Rosetta Triumphs at Asteroid Lutetia

In 2004 the European Space Agency launched Rosetta, intended to orbit a comet and set a lander on it in 2014. In the mean time, since there are giant rocks just floating around in the solar system, Rosetta took some great photos.

Rosetta triumphs at asteroid Lutetia "Asteroid Lutetia has been revealed as a battered world of many craters. ESA’s Rosetta mission has returned the first close-up images of the asteroid showing it is most probably a primitive survivor from the violent birth of the Solar System. The flyby was a spectacular success with Rosetta performing faultlessly. Closest approach took place [on July 10th], at a distance of 3162 km."

Lutetia is the Latin name for Paris which is where Hermann Goldschmidt discovered it in 1852. It's the largest asteroid a spacecraft has visited and is in the asteroid belt beyond Mars. The Planetary Society Blog has more on Rosetta's Lutetia pictures.