The European Space Agency confirmed Tuesday that the Rosetta mission will be extending until the end of September 2016.
Launched in 2004, the spacecraft reached 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, studying the comet's nucleus and environment as it moves along a 6.5-year orbit around the sun. The Rosetta later on deployed the Philae lander, which fell into hibernation but recently woke and started making contact with the spacecraft.
Originally, Rosetta only has funding until December 2015 ends. At a meeting, however, the Science Programme Committee of the ESA formally gave its approval for the mission to continue for nine more months. At that point, 67p/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will have moved away again from the sun, meaning the spacecraft will no longer be able to rely on the sun's rays to power it up. By October 2016, Rosetta will have just enough juice to land on the comet.
The additional time that the Rosetta has been given excites mission scientists. For Matt Taylor, a Rosetta project scientist for the ESA, the extension gives scientists the opportunity to also observe the comet as it travels away from the sun.
"By comparing detailed ‘before and after' data, we'll have a much better understanding of how comets evolve during their lifetimes," he stated.
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is expected to approach its closest to the sun on August 13. As the comet gets closer, it is showing increased activity over the last year, as recorded by Rosetta. The additional time the spacecraft has been given will contribute towards giving scientists a better idea of how the comet behaves as it travels in space, providing Earth-based observations with complementary context as well.
Aside from gaining extra information about the comet, the Rosetta mission's extension is also seen as a chance to definitively visually identify the Philae lander. While images of candidates that could possibly be the lander have been taken from 12 miles away, more compelling confirmation can be made with images captured at 6 miles away or less.
Information gathered from the Rosetta mission will be used in carrying out more ambitious projects, like flying across the comet's night side to observe gas, dust and plasma interactions in the region and collecting dust samples strewn near the nucleus.
While the proposed scenario involves the Rosetta spacecraft landing on the comet, what actually happens at the end will depend on what will transpire down the line. Should the proposed scenario play out, the spacecraft will spend its last three months spiraling down to the comet.
