On 20 January 2014, ESA’s comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft is set to wake up from 957 days in deep-space hibernation. Members of the media are invited to join ESA at its European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, to mark this momentous occasion.

Since its launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou on 2 March 2004, Rosetta has travelled to a distance of some 800 million kilometres 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/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, as it moves farther into the inner Solar System.

For the most distant part of the journey, the spacecraft was put into deep-space hibernation, but the time for Rosetta to wake up and prepare for the scientific adventure of the encounter with 67P/ Churyumov–Gerasimenko is now fast approaching. The spacecraft’s internal alarm clock is set for 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 20 January, and the first signal from the spacecraft is expected no earlier than 17:30 GMT (18.30 CET).

Members of the media are invited to join ESA’s science and mission control experts and partners on Monday 20 January, from 10:00 CET, at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany for the day-long event.