 |
 |
||
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
Planetary News: Rosetta (2004)Launch of Comet Catcher -- Rosetta -- Is RescheduledBy A.J.S. Rayl1 March 2004 The launch of the European Space Agency's comet catcher -- Rosetta -- has been rescheduled, following two successive 'scrubs' last week. Lift-off is now scheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at either 4:17 or 4:37 local time in Kourou, French Guiana time; 8:17 or 08:37 Central European Time. On the west coast of the United States, that's tonight, at 11:17 or 11:37 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. One of the most ambitious and complex robotic space projects ever undertaken, Rosetta -- which cost about one billion Euros -- is the first spacecraft that will attempt to orbit a comet's nucleus, and then deposit a lander to its surface. It will be ferried aloft by an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou. Even though the Hummer-size spacecraft is being launched with the heavy-lifting Ariane 5, and is carrying 1,650 kilograms [about 1.7 tons] of propellant on board (which accounts for more than half its mass at lift-off), the pioneering spacecraft will have to use three gravity assists -- two from Earth and one from Mars -- to get the momentum necessary to 'slingshot' it out to the far reaches of the solar system, beyond the orbit of Jupiter and its distant target -- Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The one-way trip will take a decade, with the spacecraft slated to arrive at the comet in May 2014. The goal of the Rosetta mission is to uncover the remaining clues to the mystery of the origin and development of our solar system. Teams of scientists from countries around the world are taking part in the various experiments to be conducted with a host of instruments onboard both the orbiter and lander. Unlike many launches, Rosetta has an optimal launch window of just a couple of seconds each day or "launch instants," as Arianespace Chief Executive Officer Jean-Yves Le Gall Le Gall described them before last week's first 'launch instant.' A series of such 'launch instants' occurs until March 17. Rosetta's launch was first put on hold for 24 hours last Thursday, because of high wind conditions at the spaceport. On Friday, the launch was 'scrubbed,' because a last-minute external inspection found that a piece of foam insulation had fallen from the rocket's core cryogenic stage. Both the rocket and Rosetta were put into a safe mode, while the missing piece of insulation was replaced. |
|||||
 |
 |
|||||
[ what is this? ]