Summary
The International Rosetta Mission was approved in November 1993 by ESA's Science Programme Committee as the Planetary Cornerstone Mission in ESA's long-term space science programme. The original mission goal was to rendezvous with comet 46P/Wirtanen. As a result of the launch postponement (to March 2004) a new target was selected: Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On its 10 year journey to the comet, the spacecraft will pass close to two asteroids: 2867 Steins (in 2008) and 21 Lutetia (in 2010).
Rosetta operations are carried out from ESA's Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt. Orbit determination for all mission phases is also performed by ESOC.
Rosetta was sucessfully launched on 2 March 2004 by an Ariane-5 G+ from Kourou, French Guiana. In order to gain enough orbital energy to reach its target four gravity assists are required: one by Mars and three by Earth. The long mission duration has required the introduction of extended hibernation periods.
The mission falls into several distinct phases:
|
Event |
Nominal date |
| Launch |
2 March 2004 |
| First Earth gravity assist |
4 March 2005 |
| Mars gravity assist |
25 February 2007 |
| Second Earth gravity assist |
13 November 2007 |
| Asteroid Steins flyby |
5 September 2008 |
| Third Earth gravity assist |
13 November 2009 |
| Asteroid Lutetia flyby |
10 July 2010 |
| Enter deep space hibernation |
July 2011 |
| Exit deep space hibernation |
January 2014 |
| Rendezvous manoeuvre |
May 2014 |
| Start Global Mapping |
August 2014 |
| Lander Delivery |
November 2014 |
| Perihelion Passage |
August 2015 |
| End of Mission |
December 2015 |
____________________________________
Last Update: 11 Sep 2008
| 
