ESA said comet chaser's boost a success

PARIS, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency said its comet chaser Rosetta successfully gained a boost from swinging by the Earth in an attempt to rendezvous with a comet.

The space agency said on its Web site that Rosetta's maneuver Friday went as planned and the spacecraft is en route to meet up with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko sometime in 2014.

The agency said the spacecraft traveled at a speed of 8.29 miles per second -- nearly 3,000 miles per hour -- Friday morning as it passed above the Earth at an altitude of nearly 1,542 miles.

During the fully automated maneuver, the unmanned comet chaser was in contact with the agency through the ESA New Norcia Station in Australia.

After the maneuver was completed, contact with the spacecraft was resumed using the agency's Maspalomas station in Spain.

The agency said the maneuver marked the third time the Rosetta has swung by the Earth and the spacecraft's fourth planetary swing-by to date.