Scientists will use 'hibernating' spacecraft to land on comet

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Scientists will wake up the hibernating spacecraft Rosetta and attempt to send a robotic lander to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

In January, the European Space Agency will end Rosetta's 31-month deep-space hibernation and send it on a journey toward the comet. Once the spacecraft has reached the comet, scientists will attempt to deploy a lander on the comet's surface. Mission details were announced at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

"You have the hurdle of getting it back on, then there is a massive hurdle of getting it close to the comet... And then there's landing on it," said project scientist Matt Taylor from the European Space Agency.

The Rosetta, launched in 2004, orbited Earth and performed a slingshot around Mars to line itself up for the mission. Once the spacecraft reached the orbit of Jupiter in 2011 it was shut down to conserve energy for the remainder of the mission.

The only active equipment is the internal clock, which is set to restart the spacecraft on Jan. 20, 2014. Rosetta will then spend a day restarting each of its systems as scientists anxiously wait.

After starting up the onboard electronics, Rosetta will align itself before pushing forward toward the comet. The spacecraft is expected to reach the comet in August and after traveling alongside it for a few weeks it will attempt to land the Philae robotic lander in November.

The never before attempted mission hopes to take samples and record images of the comet as it nears the Sun in 2015.

[ESA] [BBC]