A European space probe approaching its target comet in deep space has found the comet's surface is relatively warm and apparently holds a dark and dusty covering, mission controllers said.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta, an unmanned comet-hunting spacecraft, has taken the temperature of the comet "67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko" after travelling 6 billion kilometers in a 10-year pursuit. 

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Rosetta is now ready to enter the comet's orbit. The robotic spacecraft will collect invaluable data about the physical properties and composition of the comet.

Rosetta will be the first spacecraft to land on any comet's surface.

Between July 13 and 21, Rosetta scanned the comet using an infrared spectrometer from a distance of 14,000 km to as close as 5,000 km.

As the spectrometer recorded the infrared light emanating from the comet, scientists estimated the comet's average temperature of around minus 94 Fahrenheit. This extreme cold is still relatively warmer by around 30 to 50 degrees as opposed to a comet entirely made out of ice, scientists say.

ESA confirms the comet's current temperature is direct evidence of the comet's dusty surface. This darker material easily heats up and emits more heat instantly than ice when it is exposed to sunlight.

The comet is currently 555 million kilometers away from the sun.

The US $1.9 billion Rosetta mission has spent the last 10 years shuttling from Earth and Mars where it used the planets' gravitational pull in a slingshot maneuver to gain more speed for the rendezvous.

Astrophysicists believe that comets are the keys to discovering the origins of the solar system that formed about 4.6 billion years ago.

Comets are also are relics left behind when the solar system was building itself .

On Aug. 6, Rosetta  will approach the comet at its closest range ever at 100 km.

In November, Rosetta will drop a refrigertor-sized lab called Philae on the comet's surface, which will be the highlight of the mission.

With the mothership close by, Philae will be able to hold up for about six months on the surface as the comet passes around the sun and then towards the orbit of Jupiter by 2015.

The spacecraft is named after Rosetta, a famous ancient stone used to deciper Egyptian hieroglyphics now housed at the British Museum.  

Philae is named after an obelisk that helped decipher the Rosetta stone.

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