Search Here

A comet-chasing spacecraft sent its first signal back to Earth on Monday, waking up after almost three years of hibernation. Scientists hope to use it to land the first space lander onto a comet. 

An all-clear message was received at The European Space Agency from its Rosetta spacecraft at 1:18 p.m. EST on Monday. The message had travelled around 800 million kilometers. 

Rosetta was launched nine years ago as a part of daring mission to land on a comet. 

The spacecraft was put into hibernation in 2011 for saving power. Due the distance from the Sun, Rosetta's solar panels could not kept it running. 

"I think it's been the longest hour of my life," said Andrea Accomazzo, the spacecraft's operations manager at ESA's mission control room in Darmstadt, Germany, according to The Province. 

Scientists are pinning hopes on the space mission that will help in understanding the composition of the comets and also would enable them to discover more about the origins and evolution of the solar system. 

"Rosetta is a unique mission... comets may be at the origin of who we are," said Jean-Jacques Dordain from the European Space Agency, according to BBC.