一艘歐洲無人飛船將與彗星會合

A space probe that has been racing across the solar system to catch up with a comet for a decade will finally reach its historic destination Wednesday.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft will rendezvous with the Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko after a final set of maneuvers that will place it in an orbit about 100 kilometers above the comet's surface. If successful, the $1.7 billion Rosetta will become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet.

Once it reaches orbit, Rosetta will escort Comet 67P for the next year and observe it as it heads towards the sun. The highlight of the mission will come in November, when Rosetta will release a small probe that will land on Comet 67P -- the first ever spacecraft to accomplish such a feat.星期三，10年來一直在太陽系追蹤一顆彗星的空間探測器終於將飛抵具有歷史意義的目的地。

歐洲太空署的羅塞塔號無人飛船將與67P/楚留莫夫-格拉希門克彗星交會。經過最後一系列運行後，羅塞塔號無人飛船將進入距離這顆彗星約100公里的軌道。如果運作成功，造價17億美元的羅塞塔號將成爲第一個與彗星會合的空間探測器。

羅塞塔號進入軌道後，將在未來一年中伴隨67P彗星，並在這顆彗星飛往太陽途中進行觀測。這次使命的最重要時刻將在十一月，屆時羅塞塔號將發射一個小型探測器，在67P彗星表面着陸。這將是有史以來的第一次。