Rosetta catches up to comet after 10-year chase

Rosetta is the first spacecraft ever to tailgate a comet – in a decade-long mission that scientists hope will unlock the secrets of the solar system.

Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2004, Rosetta finally caught up with its quarry, the comet named "67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko", rendezvousing with it on Aug 6. It will now accompany the hunk of ice and rock on its trip around the sun and land a probe on it in November this year in an unprecedented manoeuvre.