Watch Live: ESA Waits for Signal from Comet-Chasing Spacecraft

By Nancy Atkinson - January 20, 2014 at 12:40 PM UTC | Missions
Rosetta.jpg

Watch

live streaming video

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UPDATE: Rosetta woke up!

Read our full story about the acquisition of signal here.

For the first time, a spacecraft will follow a comet as it approaches the Sun and land on its nucleus. But today is key to the success of the mission. After nearly two and a half years in hibernation, its time for Rosetta to

wake up!

Rosetta has been soaring through the inner solar system for nearly a decade --flying past Mars and Earth several times and even briefly visiting a couple of asteroids. A special 'hibernation mode' for the spacecraft was designed by engineers to allow it to survive the large distances from the Sun during its cruise. Since it went into hibernation on June 9, 2011, Rosetta has orbited entirely on its own completely out of contact. But now the Rosetta spacecraft is finally entering the home stretch of its mission to orbit the 4-km-wide comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Watch live, above, as mission controllers at ESA await for a signal from the spacecraft. The Rosetta mission control team at ESOC is expecting to receive the signal between 17:30-18:30 UTC.

This highlight of the mission will take place in November 2014, when the small, autonomous daughter craft, Philae, lands on the comet itself, a feat never before accomplished.

Find out more about this mission in this video:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com