Why Rosetta?

             The European Space Agency's (ESA) mission of cometary exploration, that is now in orbit is named after The European Space Agency's (ESA) mission of cometary exploration, that is now in orbit is named after the famous 'Rosetta Stone'. This piece of volcanic basalt, which is at the moment in the British Museum in London, was the key to shed light on the civilisation of ancient Egypt. famous 'Rosetta Stone'. This piece of volcanic basalt, which is at the moment in the British Museum in London, was the key to shed light on the civilisation of ancient Egypt.

             This unique stone was discovered in 1799 by french soldiers, as they were going to demolish a wall near the village of Rashid (Rosetta) in Egypt's Nile delta. The inscriptions that were carved on the Stone included hieroglyphics not only of the written language of ancient Egypt but also Greek, which was easily transcripted. 

             The Siege of Alexandria was fought between 17 August and 2 September 1801, during the French   Revolutionary Wars, between French and British forces and was the last Egyptian Campaign. The french soldiers had occupied Alexandria, a major fortified harbour city on the Nile Delta in northern Egypt, since 2 July 1798, and the garrison there surrended on 2 September 1801.After the French surrender , the 762-kilogram stone was handed over to the British.

             By comparing the inscriptions on the stone, historians were able to begin deciphering the mysterious carved figures. Most of the pioneering work was carried out by the English physician and physicist Thomas Young, and the French scholar Jean François Champollion. As a result of their investigation, scholars were at last able to piece together the history of a long-lost culture,  Egypt.

             Just as the Rosetta Stone provided the key to an ancient civilisation, so ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will unlock the mysteries of the oldest building blocks of our Solar System – the comets. As the worthy successor of Champollion and Young, Rosetta will allow scientists to look back 4600 million years to an epoch when no planets existed and only a vast swarm of asteroids and comets surrounded the Sun.