PARIS, Jan 2: French space scientists are eagerly awaiting a decision to be handed down on Monday by the country’s aerospace authorities that should determine whether Rosetta — the country’s and the European continent’s most ambitious space mission to the Wirtanen Comet in 2012.

Because of the failure on Dec 11 of the launch at Kourou, in French Guyana, of a new-generation Ariane launcher, the Ariane 5 ESC-A, French aerospace authorities are considering the possibility of further delaying the launch of Rosetta, already postponed from its original Jan 12 launch date.

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