Rosetta is a
space probe financed by the
European Space Agency. It was originally to have been launched on
January 12,
2003 to rendezvous with the
comet 46 P/Wirtanen[?] in
2011. However this plan was abandoned after the
Ariane 5 failure on
December 11,
2002. A new plan is under consideration to target the comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko[?] with a launch in February, 2004 and rendezvous in
2014.
The probe is designed to orbit a comet and land on it. It is named after the Rosetta Stone.
- "Comet chaser has new quarry", BBC News Online, March 7, 2003; [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2830859.stm)