This is an artist's depiction of the Rosetta spacecraft (lower left), which will orbit the comet and the lander (upper right), which will land on the comet's nucleus. Click on image for full size (43K JPEG) Image courtesy ESA.

Scientists and engineers involved with the Rosetta space mission are preparing for the spacecraft's launch, which is scheduled for February 2004. Rosetta was originally intended to blast off about one year ago, in January 2003. Last year's launch was delayed, however, over concerns about the safety of the spacecraft's Ariane 5 launch vehicle. While engineers worked out the problems with the Ariane rocket, scientists had to choose a new target for the Rosetta mission which will rendezvous with and land a probe on the surface of a comet. The original target, Comet Wirtanen, has moved out of range of the mission.

Rosetta is now slated to begin pursuit of its new target, Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with a liftoff on February 26, 2004. Rosetta's new target is larger than the comet it was formerly designed to study, and thus has stronger gravity. Engineers had to modify the landing gear on the Rosetta lander to withstand more shock since the vehicle will be moving faster when in touches down on the comet's nucleus.

Rosetta will travel a long and roundabout path on the way to Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The spacecraft will go into orbit around the comet in August 2014, and the lander will touch down in November of that year. Along the way it will fly by Earth three times and Mars once, gaining speed via a "gravity assist" during each planetary encounter. Rosetta is also expected to fly past at least one asteroid during its ten-year long journey, though the particular asteroid it will study has not yet been chosen.

This picture shows what an artist thinks the Rosetta spacecraft will look like when it gets near the comet. The spacecraft has two parts. The part in the lower left will orbit the comet. The part in the upper right will land on the comet. Click on image for full size (43K JPEG) Image courtesy ESA.

The Rosetta space mission will be launched in February 2004. Rosetta will travel to a comet and study it. Part of the spacecraft will actually land on the comet. It will be the first spacecraft to do that.

Rosetta was supposed to start its mission about one year ago in January 2003. Unfortunately, there were some problems with the rocket Rosetta was supposed to be launched on, so the mission had to be delayed. While engineers were fixing the rocket, the comet that Rosetta was supposed to visit moved out of range. Scientists had to pick a new comet for Rosetta to visit.

Rosetta will be going to a comet named Churyumov-Gerasimenko. That comet is bigger than the comet Rosetta was originally supposed to visit. Engineers had to make some changes to the legs of the Rosetta lander so it can land safely on the new, larger comet, which has more gravity than the old comet.

Rosetta will take a long time to get to the comet. Rosetta will blast off on February 26, 2004, but it won't get to the comet until the year 2014. Rosetta will fly by Mars and an asteroid on the way to the comet. Let's hope that Rosetta has a safe journey!

This picture shows what an artist thinks the Rosetta spacecraft will look like in space. The spacecraft has two parts. The part in the lower left will orbit the comet. The part in the upper right will land on the comet. Click on image for full size (43K JPEG) Image courtesy ESA.

The European Space Agency is getting ready to launch a space mission. The mission is called Rosetta. Rosetta will fly to a comet and study it. Part of the spacecraft will land on the comet. Rosetta will blast off on February 26, 2004.

Rosetta was supposed to blast off a year ago, but there were problems with its rocket. Those problems have been fixed, so Rosetta is ready to go now. Rosetta will study a comet named Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The comet is named after two Russian scientists who discovered it.

Rosetta has a long trip ahead of it. It will take Rosetta ten years to get to the comet! Rosetta will fly by Mars and an asteroid on the way to the comet. Let's hope that Rosetta has a safe trip!