Ten years ago the ESA (European Space Agency) began a chase through the stars that will be ending today (August 6, 2014). Europe's Rosetta spacecraft is poised to orbit a comet that it has been tailing for the past decade and will soon be landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Described as "the sexiest, most fantastic mission ever" by one of the ESA's lead scientists, the purpose of this mission is to ascertain if comets could have delivered the necessary elements for life in early in Earth's history.
During the angsty teen years
According to a theory, the basic building blocks of life may have been delivered by an early comet. The theory is that comets may have crashed into Earth, creating a surplus of water, carbon and other life essential elements. Previous missions have been drive-by missions, which collect the dust from the comet's tail, however attempting to land on a comet has never been done before. Rosetta takes her first steps today, by pulling up along side of the comet to begin orbiting in preparation for eventual landing on the so called "rubber duck in space."