ESA Extends Mission, Rosetta Could Join Philae On Comet 67P

European Space Agency has extended Rosetta's mission by nine months and has mentioned the possibility of landing the orbiter on the comet 67P.

Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, a decade after launch. It deployed Philae in November to study the comet up close while it made other observations. As the comet goes about its 6.5 year orbit around the Sun, Rosetta would drift in and out of solar gaze, which powers the spacecraft and the lander.

The mission was initially expected to run till December 2015. A nine-month extension could give scientists data as the comet moves away from the Sun in its orbit.

"This is fantastic news for science. We'll be able to monitor the decline in the comet's activity as we move away from the Sun again, and we'll have the opportunity to fly closer to the comet to continue collecting more unique data. By comparing detailed 'before and after' data, we'll have a much better understanding of how comets evolve during their lifetimes," Matt Taylor, ESA's Rosetta Project Scientist said in a press release.

While the extension has been confirmed no decision for an endgame has been taken. ESA however mentioned landing Rosetta on the comet.

"This time, as we're riding along next to the comet, the most logical way to end the mission is to set Rosetta down on the surface. But there is still a lot to do to confirm that this end-of-mission scenario is possible. We'll first have to see what the status of the spacecraft is after perihelion and how well it is performing close to the comet, and later we will have to try and determine where on the surface we can have a touchdown," said Patrick Martin, Rosetta Mission Manager.

With Philae and Rosetta both on the comet, the already successful mission, could script space history.