Comet-Chasing Rosetta Probe to Wake up Monday

Jan 18, 2014 11:03 AM EST | Matt Mercuro

A comet-chasing Rosetta probe is set to "wake up" on Jan. 20 and scientists are inviting you to take part in the special occasion, according to CNN.

The spacecraft is set to reactivate itself next week, and the European Space Agency (ESA) wants people from all-over the world to share videos of themselves screaming "Wake up, Rosetta!"

Videos can be uploaded on the agency's Facebook page.

Click here to view the Rosetta Mission Facebook page.

Those who visit the page can vote for their favorite videos and the top 10 videos will then be transmitted towards Rosetta to help wake it up.

Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and to place a lander on its surface as it reaches and then moves around the sun, according to CNN.

"It's the first time we've made a rendezvous with a comet -- that's never been done before -- and it's going to be the first time we've escorted a comet past its closest approach to the Sun," ESA project scientist Matt Taylor said to CNN.

The main objective of the mission is to try understanding the origin of the solar system and how it has evolved over the years. ESA also is trying to figure out if comets have anything to do with the water found on Earth.

The probe, which was named after the Rosetta stone, launched in 2004 and cost approximately $1.36 billion.

ESA confirmed this week the probe has been around the sun five times and it will meet up with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014, according to CNN.

"After mapping the comet's surface it will release the lander Philae in November and monitor changes as it gets closer to the sun," said CNN.

Rosetta has been in hibernation during the last 31 months, or the coldest part of its journey that took it right near Jupiter's orbit.

The lander was designed with harpoons to attach to the comet which is over 2.5 miles long. It will then drill 8 inches into the surface to analyze "chemical components," according to Taylor.

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