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European Space Agency

Press Release

ESA's new challenge with Rosetta
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21 January 2003

After the initial disappointment of postponing the Rosetta mission,
ESA's Director of Science David Southwood expressed his firm
determination to accept the delay and take it on as a galvanising
challenge.

Speaking about the scientists, engineers, and industrial teams
attached to the mission, David Southwood says, "If one is going to be
stuck anywhere, these are the guys to be with. They have the
pioneering spirit and dedication that is worthy of space explorers."
Rosetta is and stays one of the most challenging interplanetary
missions ever undertaken. It is the major space mission to a comet
worldwide, and the only lander and orbiter of its kind. 

The decision to postpone the launch of Rosetta - which was ready well
in time for the expected launch window - was taken jointly by ESA and
Arianespace. The Rosetta launch is not expected for at least one year
at the earliest. The Ariane-5 programme is now under thorough
re-examination. ESA expects Arianespace to provide the necessary
guarantees regarding the Ariane-5 system qualification procedures and
review process. 

Rosetta can no longer reach its original target, Comet Wirtanen.
However, the Rosetta team is now at work finding alternative target
comets for the spaceprobe to explore. The team will identify several
comets as targets that Rosetta could reach, within the timeframe for
launch of the next two-and-a-half-years. It will select new targets on 
the basis of three main criteria: striving for the maximum scientific 
return possible, minimising the technical risks to the spacecraft, and 
carefully estimating the extra funding needed. 

For the time being, the costs of grounding the mission are likely to
be somewhere between 50 and 100 million Euros. The comet shortlist
will be presented to the Science Programme Committee (SPC) at their
meeting on 25-26 February 2003. The SPC will discuss their suitability 
and viability. A final decision on the new target and mission profile 
is expected for May 2003 at the latest.

So, the Rosetta mission takes a new direction. Rosetta's Project
Scientist, Gerhard Schwehm, is undaunted by this new twist in the
spacecraft's story. He says, "During the decade it has taken us to
develop and build Rosetta, we have faced many challenges and overcome
them all. This new challenge will be met with the same energy,
enthusiasm and, ultimately, success." 

As for the spacecraft itself, it must now be stored away, safely and
cleanly, until it is called upon. Engineers will remove its batteries, 
take off the lander harpoons, and drain its fuel tanks.  "The same 
care that went into building the spacecraft will now be applied to 
storing it and making sure that it will be in perfect shape for us to 
launch it when the date comes," says John Ellwood, Rosetta's Project 
Manager. 

Although Rosetta will no longer meet Comet Wirtanen, it will
rendezvous with a new comet that will soon become as well-known to the 
European comet-chasing community as the name Wirtanen is now.

For more information please contact:

ESA - Communication Department
Media Relations Office
Paris, France
Tel: +33 (0)1 5369 7155
Fax: +33(0)1 5369 7690

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