The European Space Agency's comet chasing spacecraft, Rosetta, is being prepared for it's launch in March 2004. Rosetta will reach the comet and go into orbit in August 2014. The spacecraft will map the surface of the comet in great detail and then actually land on the surface and provide high resolution images from the "ground" The comet 46P/Wirtanen is the target of Rosetta as well (ref: MPC 34423).
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