PARIS, FRANCE (BNO NEWS) -- The 'Rosetta' spacecraft, which is chasing a comet and plans to drop a lander onto its surface later this year, woke up from hibernation on Monday and sent a message back to Earth, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

The spacecraft was woken up by a pre-programmed internal 'alarm clock,' warming up its key navigation instruments, coming out of a stabilizing spin, and aiming its main radio antenna at Earth. It later sent a message that was received by NASA's Goldstone ground station in California at 18:18 GMT, just minutes before the first window of opportunity to receive a signal was to close.

Since its launch from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou in March 2004, 'Rosetta' has traveled to a distance of some 800 million kilometers (500 million miles) from the Sun and close to the orbit of Jupiter, passing by Earth three times and Mars once, and flying past two asteroids. It is now closing in on its destination, Comet 67P/ChuryumovâGerasimenko, as it moves farther into the inner Solar System.

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