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Arianespace Delays Time-Critical Rosetta Cometary Probe Launch
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canaveral Bureau
posted: 01:15 pm ET
30 December 2002
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla This is a corrected version of a story posted Dec. 30.CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The planned Jan. 12 launch of Rosetta -- the European Space Agency's comet research mission -- is being delayed several days while engineers continue to study the recent failure of an Ariane 5 rocket. Equipped with a more powerful upper stage and an upgraded first stage main engine, the new Ariane 5 exploded during its first flight from the Guiana Space Center in South America on Dec. 11. Lost in the estimated $600 million disaster were the HotBird 7 and Stentor satellites. Although Rosetta is to fly the original model of the Ariane 5, officials still want to make sure there are no concerns before approving the launch. An investigation board is scheduled to submit its final report on Jan. 6. Until then, Arianespace officials say, "irreversible operations linked to Rosetta's launch have been suspended." "A launch postponement of several days" is expected with a new launch date to be announced on Jan. 11, Arianespace said in a statement released Monday. Rosetta must be launched by Jan. 31 in order to reach the Comet Wirtanen some eight years later. The short planetary launch window takes into account Rosetta's requirement of having to swing by Mars once and Earth twice for course altering, gravity assist maneuvers. "The cosmic clock of the Solar System fixed our launch date when Comet Wirtanen was selected as Rosetta's target ten years ago," John Ellwood, project manager for the mission, said in September. "Although there are risks in a precise, rather short launch window, it's had the advantage that everyone concerned knew there was no room for discussion -- they had to be ready," Ellwood said. If all goes well, Rosetta is to pass close to two asteroids -- Otawara and Siwa -- on its way to Comet Wirtanen, arriving there in November 2011. During its two-year mission the spacecraft is to deploy a probe to land on the comet's surface.
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