Second target of Rosetta

2003/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronautika

They seem to have chosen the comet to which they will send the Rosetta probe, although they will not officialize the new one until all the details have been tied. In fact, Rosetta's goal was Wirtanen's comet. The probe was to be launched through an Ariane 5 in January and by 2012 it was expected to be on the surface of this comet. The main objective was to know the origins of the solar system through the analysis of the comet.

But as in December a Ariane 5 exploded, the Rosetta mission was delayed by not being sure the release was going to get along. This delay has made it impossible to reach the comet they wanted and have had to choose another comet. This second comet is called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and is already known as Chury. If all the details are joined and this comet is seen to be correct, Rosetta will finally be launched in February 2004 and if everything goes well, in 2014 the surface of Chury will arrive.