Comet-chasing spacecraft flies close to Mars

EUROPEAN spacecraft carried out a close fly-by of Mars yesterday, a crucial manoeuvre in its meandering, 10-year voyage through the solar system to make the first soft landing on a comet.

Applause broke out in the European Space Agency’s mission control centre in western Germany as the Rosetta comet probe’s radio signal was picked up as the craft passed behind the Red Planet.

Rosetta used Mars’ gravitational field to change course and head toward two similar fly-bys of Earth this year and in 2009, which will accelerate it toward its distant target comet.