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Rosetta
The intrepid comet explorer
The international Rosetta mission is the third Cornerstone Mission in the European Space Agency’s long-term space science programme. Launched in March 2004, the mission’s objective is to rendezvous with the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.
The spacecraft will orbit the comet at a distance of one kilometre for nearly two years, studying the comet’s nucleus and its environment, and a lander will carry out surface-science investigations and analysis on Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
In order to reach its destination Rosetta will need to to pick up injections of momentum during its journey by a sequence of planetary swing-bys in the gravity fields of the Earth and Mars. Astrium was prime contractor for the Rosetta mission, responsible for building the spacecraft.