Europe's Rosetta comet explorer separated from its Ariane 5G launcher on 2 March to begin its 10-year, 4.34 billion-mile journey to rendezvous with the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe was launched from Kourou, French Guiana after two delays due to weather and technical problems, and more than a year later than originally planned. The $1.2 billion mission was postponed after the Ariane 5 ECA failure in December 2002.
The EADS Astrium-built Rosetta was placed into a hyperbolic libration orbit, the first time that an Ariane 5 has been used for this type of mission. The storable-propellant upper stage was ignited at the end of a 1h 46min coast phase, sending the craft, with its small Philae lander, on the correct trajectory to enter orbit around its comet target in 2014. En route, Rosetta will make gravity-assist fly-bys of the Earth in March 2005, November 2007 and November 2009, and of Mars in March 2007 - and will explore an asteroid.
Postponement of the launch put Rosetta's initial target, the comet Wirtanen, out of reach. Manoeuvres to rendezvous with Churyumov-Gerasimenko are scheduled for May 2014. In November 2014, the lander carried by the spacecraft will touch down on the comet's surface.
Source: Flight International
