The Rosetta spacecraft communicated with the European Space Agency for the first time in three years The Associated Press reported.
Astronauts at the agency received a signal from the spacecraft after it struggled to do so. The information trekked 800 million kilometers or 500 million miles through space The AP reported.
"I think it's been the longest hour of my life," Andrea Accomazzo, spacecraft operations manager at the agency's mission control room in Darmstadt, Germany told The AP. "Now we have it back," Accomazzo told The AP.
Scientists are expected to operate the spacecraft in preparation for its reunion with Comet 67P over the summer the AP reported.
Astronauts shut off the spacecraft to save power in 2011. It was turned back in attempt to interact with the 67P comet, named Curyumov-Gerasimenko The AP reported.
Scientists expect the reunion to happen over the summer The AP reported. The spacecraft will study the four kilometers, 2.5 mile comet until Philae its space vehicle arrives in November to excavate its surface for material for examination.
"Over the millennia, comets have actually affected our evolution," Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations at the European Space Agency told The AP. "There are many theories about comets hitting the Earth and causing global catastrophes. So understanding comets is also important to see in the future what could be done to defend the Earth from comets."
Rosetta got its name from the stone archaeologists used to categorize ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs the AP reported.
Scientists anticipate learning about how comets are made and uncover additional facts about how the solar system began, and grew the AP reported.
Scientists will excavate portions of the material to examine with utensils the AP reported.
Comets have looked the same for the past 4.6 billion years the AP reported. The celestial body is also a danger to earth.
