Rosetta probe starts its 10 year journey
Tues Mar. 02, 2004 GMT
The European Space Agency's Rosetta cometary probe has started it's journey to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after it separated from it's launch rocket Ariane 5 early Tuesday.
After being delayed twice, the launch of the £600m probe took place without hitch.
Objectives
The Space probes objective is to chase and land on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in order to study its chemical and physical make-up. This is because Scientists believe comets can give evidence as they contain materials that are largely unchanged since the universe was formed 4.6 billion years ago. This information may shed some light on how life was formed on earth.
Once separated, the Rosetta probe must travel around the earth three times (2005, 2007 and 2009), Mars once (2007), the sun four times and into the asteroid belt twice. Then the probe will dispatch a small lander (about the size of a washing machine) to the comets surface.
Challenges
The comet is 7bn-km away and will have to spend over ten years before reaching its final destination.
Churyumov-Gerasimenko is travelling at speeds up to 135,000km/h and currently there is no rocket powerful enough to carry the probe directly to the comet. This is why the Rosetta mission uses the gravitational force from various planets to accelerate the probe to sufficient speed.
Another possible problem is that the Rosetta probe and the lander had originally been designed for the comet 46P/Wirtanen which has a gravity field 50 times lower than 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is not sure how well the probe will respond to the challenge.
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Discovered by Klim Churymov in 1969, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko only became the destination for the rosetta mission after the failure to meet its original deadline for an encounter with 46P/Wirtanen.
The comet is comparitively large with an estimated diameter of about 5km. At the time of its arrival, the comet is meant to be cold and inative.
Classed as a dusty comet, its bears similarities to the well known IP/Halley.
