The Rosetta spacecraft, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, awoke from three years of dormancy on Monday. The comet-chasing spacecraft is now preparing to enter the final phase of its 10-year mission.

If all goes according to plan, Rosetta will rendezvous with and land a probe on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Scientists hope that the data gathered from that probe will give them a look at the conditions that existed when our solar system was formed.

“Since comets are so primitive, they can give scientists a chance to understand how the solar system formed, where it came from,” Rosetta spacecraft operations manager Andrea Accomazzo told Reuters.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is approximately 5 km in size and was discovered in 1969 by Klim IvanovychChuryumov. The primary aim of the mission is to examine what lies at the nucleus of the comet.

According to the ESA, Rosetta will deposit the 100kg Philae lander on the surface of the comet. Once it has touched down, two harpoons will anchor the lander in place and its self adjusting landing gear will ensure that it remains upright, even if it lands at an angle. Finally, the lander’s feet will drill into the surface so that it remains in contact with the comets surface in the low gravity environment.

This will mark the first time that a satellite has gone into orbit around a comet, rather than simply flying by. It will also mark the first time that a probe has landed on a comet’s nucleus.

Rosetta is scheduled to approach the comet by August of this year and should be in position to deposit the Philae lander in November. The probe will continue to gather data until the end of 2015.

Source: Reuters