THE INTERNATIONAL ROSETTA MISSION

The International Rosetta Mission was approved in November 1993 by ESA 's Science Programme Committee as the Planetary Cornerstone Mission in ESA's long-term programme in space science, Horizon 2000. The mission 's main goal is a rendezvous with Comet 46P/Wirtanen, but it is also i ntended to study two asteroids during close flybys on route to the com et. Rosetta will study the nucleus of Comet Wirtanen and its environme nt in great detail for a period of nearly two years, the near-nucleus phase starting at a heliocentric distance of about 3.25 AU, from the o nset of activity through to perihelion, close to 1 AU. On its long jou rney to the comet, the spacecraft will pass close to the asteroids Mim istrobell and Siwa or Rodari.