Pioneering space mission launched
Europe’s pioneering mission to chase down a comet and land a probe on its surface blasted off today, beginning a perilous 12-year trek through the solar system.
The Rosetta spacecraft took off from its launch pad at the European Space Agency’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket and rose as a dazzling ball of light into the night sky.
If successful, the €900m project will be the first time a spacecraft has ever landed on a comet.
Due to the particularly complicated launch operation, ESA scientists at the mission control centre will have to wait an anxious one hour and 45 minutes before the ignition of the rocket’s “upper stage” begins, propelling Rosetta into deep space.
During this time the probe will make one full orbit of the earth, tracked by monitoring centres at Ascension Island, Australia, and a point just south of Hawaii.
Only after the delayed ignition of the upper stage will the experts know whether Rosetta is successfully on its way.
