Astronomer Klim Churyumov, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and astronomer Svetlana Gerasimenko, waiting for the launch of ESA’s « comet chaser » Rosetta from Kourou.
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the planned target for Rosetta, is one of the periodic comets that were “trapped” in the inner Solar System after they came too close to Jupiter. This comet was discovered in September 1969 at the Almaty Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan. It was detected by astronomer Klim Churyumov, from the University of Kiev, Ukraine, on pictures taken by his colleague Svetlana Gerasimenko, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Rosetta’s mission began at 08:17 CET (07:17 GMT) on 2 March 2004 when a European Ariane 5 launch vehicle lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.