Editing Rosetta (spacecraft) (section)

=== Launch ===
[[File:Animation of Rosetta trajectory.gif|thumb|upright=1.4|Animation of ''Rosetta''{{'s}} trajectory from 2 March 2004 to 9 September 2016 <br/> {{legend2|magenta|''Rosetta''}}{{·}}{{legend2|lime|[[67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko]]}}{{·}}{{legend2|Royalblue|[[Earth]]}}{{·}}{{legend2|maroon|[[Mars]]}}{{·}}{{legend2|Cyan|[[21 Lutetia]]}}{{·}}{{legend2|Gold|[[2867 Šteins]]}}]]
[[File:Rosetta 111106.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Trajectory of the ''Rosetta'' space probe]]
''Rosetta'' was set to be launched on 12 January 2003 to rendezvous with the comet [[46P/Wirtanen]] in 2011.<ref name="Altwegg2001" /> This plan was abandoned after the failure of an [[Ariane 5 ECA]] carrier rocket during [[Hot Bird 7]]'s launch on 11 December 2002, grounding it until the cause of the failure could be determined.<ref name="Harland2006">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eszSE5VGvuMC&pg=PA149 |chapter=The Current Crop |title=Space Systems Failures |publisher=Springer-Praxis |first1=David M. |last1=Harland |first2=Ralph D. |last2=Lorenz |pages=149–150 |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-387-21519-8}}</ref> In May 2003, a new plan was formed to target the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, with a revised launch date of 26 February 2004 and comet rendezvous in 2014.<ref name="esa20030529">{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/New_destination_for_Rosetta_Europe_s_comet_chaser |title=New destination for Rosetta, Europe's comet chaser |publisher=European Space Agency |date=29 May 2003 |access-date=7 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="nature20030522">{{cite journal |title=Spiralling costs dog comet mission |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |first=Declan |last=Butler |volume=423 |issue=6938 |page=372 |date=22 May 2003 |doi=10.1038/423372b |pmid=12761511 |bibcode=2003Natur.423..372B|doi-access=free }}</ref> The larger mass and the resulting increased impact velocity made modification of the landing gear necessary.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Rosetta Lander—Philae: Implications of an alternative mission |journal=Acta Astronautica |first1=S. |last1=Ulamec |first2=S. |last2=Espinasse |first3=B. |last3=Feuerbacher |first4=M. |last4=Hilchenbach |first5=D. |last5=Moura |first6=H. |last6=Rosenbauer |first7=H. |last7=Scheuerle |first8=R. |last8=Willnecker |display-authors=5 |volume=58 |issue=8 |pages=435–441 |date=April 2006 |doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2005.12.009 |bibcode=2006AcAau..58..435U}}</ref>

After two scrubbed launch attempts, ''Rosetta'' was launched on 2 March 2004 at 07:17&nbsp;[[UTC]] from the [[Guiana Space Centre]] in French Guiana, using [[Ariane 5 G+]] carrier rocket.<ref name="esa20040304" /> Aside from the changes made to launch time and target, the mission profile remained almost identical. Both co-discoverers of the comet, [[Klim Churyumov]] and [[Svetlana Gerasimenko]], were present at the spaceport during the launch.<ref name="esa54156">{{cite web |url=http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/54156-svetlana-gerasimenko-and-klim-churyumov-in-kourou/ |title=Svetlana Gerasimenko and Klim Churyumov in Kourou |series=Rosetta |publisher=European Space Agency |date=20 October 2014 |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="esa54598">{{cite web |url=http://sci.esa.int/rosetta/54598-klim-churyumov/ |title=Klim Churyumov – co-discoverer of comet 67P |series=Rosetta |publisher=European Space Agency |date=20 October 2014 |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>