Europe’s Rosetta deep space probe has undergone checkout and modification at the Spaceport in preparation for its new launch date on Ariane 5, which is to boost the spacecraft on an ambitious mission to catch a comet.
Developed under management of the European Space Agency, Rosetta has been assigned a different comet target after its original January 2002 launch on Ariane 5 was postponed. With liftoff now targeted for February 2004, the spacecraft is scheduled to encounter comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014.
For photos of Rosetta’s preparations in French Guiana, see the Feature story on the Arianespace Web site:
http://www.arianespace.com