European spacecraft completes Mars fly-by
A European spacecraft has successfully completed a fly-by of the planet Mars as part of its journey to a distant comet near Jupiter to shed light on some of the mysteries of the solar system and how it evolved.
This was a critical manoeuvre in Rosetta's 10-year voyage through the solar system to make the first soft landing on a comet.
Rosetta's signal was picked up after 15 minutes of radio silence when the craft passed behind the red planet.
[At its closest, the spacecraft was flying barely 250 kilometres above the surface of Mars, using the planet's gravity to change course.]
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