spacetoday.net: Rosetta launch delayed to early next week

Posted: Fri, Feb 27, 2004, 11:06 AM ET (1606 GMT)
Rosetta spacecraft illustration (ESA)

The launch of the ESA's Rosetta comet mission will be delayed until at least Tuesday of next week because of a problem with the spacecraft's launch vehicle. The launch, which had been scheduled for early Friday morning, was delayed after technicians found a piece of insulation, measuring 10 by 15 centimeters, that had broken off of the vehicle's propellant tanks. Officials said the insulation may have fallen off when the tanks were drained Thursday night after a launch attempt then was scrubbed because of high upper-altitude winds. The repairs to the tank will delay the launch several days, and officials said early Friday the next launch attempt would likely be on Tuesday or Wednesday. Launch opportunities, lasting only a couple seconds a day, continue through March 17. Rosetta has already been delayed for more than a year after the failure of an Ariane 5 in December 2002; that delay required mission planners to retarget the spacecraft from its original comet, Wirtanen, to Churyumov-Gerasimenko.