ESA Science & Technology - Rosetta - A Race Against Time

Publication date: 01 November 2002

Journal: ESA Bulletin
Volume: 112
Page: pp. 24-29
Year: 2002

Copyright: ESA

The International Rosetta Mission was approved as a Cornerstone mission within ESA's Horizon 2000 Science Programme in November 1993. Even at this early stage, it was envisaged that the ambitious mission would be scheduled for launch in the 2003 timeframe and a number of comet rendezvous opportunities were identified. Although the original target, Comet Schwassman Wachmann 3, has since been superseded by another periodic intruder into the inner Solar System, Comet Wirtanen, there has been little shift in the original launch schedule.