Pioneering space mission launched

Europe’s pioneering mission to chase down a comet and land a probe on its surface blasted off today, beginning a perilous 12-year trek through the solar system.

The Rosetta spacecraft took off from its launch pad at the European Space Agency’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket and rose as a dazzling ball of light into the night sky.