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The European Rosetta Mission to Comet Wirtanen is in its final stages of preparation for launch on January 12. Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to attempt to land on the icy surface of a comet and will send back valuable information on what exactly comets are made from. Instruments on board the spacecraft will study the gas and dust particles that surround the comet. They will measure the chemical composition of gases given off as ices evaporate and capture images of the centre of the comet as it turns to gas due to heating by the Sun. The molecules that are given off by the nucleus cannot be seen using telescopes from Earth because they are obscured by the coma of gas surrounding the comet but will provide insights into the formation of these icy objects in the outer Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.
Rosetta will be launched on a new Ariane 5 rocket from South America and will take nine years to rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen. The rendezvous in 2011 will occur when the comet is at its furthest point from the Sun where it is moving at its slowest speed. The spacecraft will approach Wirtanen to within about one kilometre and release a robotic lander that will descend to the surface and study it in detail. This manoeuvre will be complicated because the small size of the comet’s nuclei means its gravity is extremely weak.
The Rosetta Mission is named after the Rosetta Stone, a slab of basalt discovered in 1799, that allowed ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics to be deciphered. Scientists expect that the Mission will likewise allow us to read the history of the early Solar System as recorded in the icy materials of comets.
More info: ESA Rosetta Site
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