Rosetta Spacecraft Wakes Up for Historic Comet Rendezvous

A European probe awoke from a deep sleep on Jan. 20 to gear up for an unprecedented comet rendezvous and landing this year that will cap a 10-year voyage across the solar system.

After two and a half years in hibernation, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft emerged from its slumber while cruising nearly 418 million miles (673 million kilometers) from the sun. The wakeup call, which was due to begin at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT), took hours as Rosetta switched on heaters to warm itself after its long night in the cold depths of space.

"We made it!" Andrea Accomazzo, Rosetta's spacecraft operations manager, shouted in exultation in a webcast. "We can definitely see a signal from Rosetta!" Read more...