Posted: Tue, Jan 20, 2004, 2:47 PM ET (1947 GMT)
Technical problems with an Ariane 5 booster could delay the launch next month of ESA's Rosetta comet mission, the BBC reported Tuesday. A pair of "open technical issues" exist with the Ariane 5 booster that is scheduled to launch Rosetta on February 26, the BBC reported. One project scientist told the BBC he was concerned that the technical problems could force ESA to delay the launch of the mission and potentially miss the launch window. ESA officials confirmed that there are issues with "the mechanical behavior of the system as it takes off and the mechanical structure of the boosters," but both the agency and Arianespace said the problems are minor and should be resolved by the scheduled launch date. Rosetta was originally scheduled for launch in January 2003 on a mission to comet Wirtanen, but ESA had to postpone the mission after the December 2002 failure of a different version of the Ariane 5. ESA then retargeted the mission for comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. If launched on schedule, Rosetta will reach the comet in 2014 and deploy a small lander to touch down on the comet's nucleus.

Related Links:

•  BBC article
•  Rosetta mission information