Paris - Europe's mission to land a spacecraft on a comet is set for takeoff next month, officials said on Tuesday, a year after the project was delayed because of problems with a rocket launcher.
The European Space Agency will propel the Rosetta craft into space on February 26 from a base in Kourou, French Guiana, said Jean-Yves Le Gall, director-general of Arianespace, which made the rocket that will launch the craft.
If the Rosetta mission succeeds, it will break new ground by placing a lander on a swift, icy comet. Until now, spacecraft only carried out brief fly-bys of comets to take pictures or landed on asteroids, which are more stable.
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The mission will be long: Rosetta won't catch up to the 7P/Churymov-Gerasimenko comet until August 2014. The craft must swing by planets to pick up gravitational boost to speed it along.
The agency had hoped to begin its mission in January 2003. Because of the delay, it dropped plans to target another comet, Wirtanen. Scientists were worried about problems with the Ariane-5 rocket.
A rocket in the Ariane-5 family veered off course in December 2002 during its maiden voyage and had to be destroyed. Scientists believe the mission failed because of cracks in engine cooling circuits.
The rocket to launch Rosetta next month is a more time-tested version of the one that malfunctioned. Rosetta scientists wanted to be especially cautious, watching the rocket's performance for a time before approving the mission. Its four missions in 2003 were successful.
Le Gall said the comet mission will be the first Ariane launch of the new year. Arianespace is the commercial arm of the 15-nation European Space Agency.
Comets formed at the same time as the solar system - 4,6 billion years ago - and contain matter left over from the origin of the sun and planets. More understanding of what they are made of could bring breakthroughs about beginnings of the solar system. - Sapa-AP
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