Rosetta and Philae, comet orbiter/lander robotic spacecraft, European Space Agency

Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft built and launched by the European Space Agency to perform a detailed study of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It is part of the ESA Horizon 2000 cornerstone missions and is the first mission designed to both orbit and land on a comet.

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This movie shows a sequence of images taken as ESA's Rosetta spacecraft flew past the main-belt asteroid (21) Lutetia, during the spacecraft's 10-year journey towards comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The flyby took place on 10 July 2010, when Rosetta flew past the asteroid at a distance of 3168.2 km and at a relative speed of 15 km/s. The first image shown in the sequence was taken nine and a half hours before closest approach, from a distance of 500 000 km to Lutetia; the last image was taken six minutes after closest approach, at 6300 km from the asteroid.

The OSIRIS camera on board Rosetta has surveyed the part of Lutetia that was visible during the flyby - about half of its entire surface, mostly coinciding with the asteroid's northern hemisphere. These unique, close-up images have allowed scientists to study the asteroid's surface morphology, composition and other properties in unprecedented detail.

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This animation tracks Rosetta's journey through the Solar System, using gravity slingshots from Earth and Mars to reach its final destination: Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. Rosetta made three flybys of Earth, on 4 March 2005, 13 November 2007 and 13 November 2009, and one of Mars, on 25 February 2007. Rosetta has also visited two asteroids, taking extensive close-up images of 2867 Steins on 5 September 2008 and 21 Lutetia on 10 July 2010. Once the spacecraft is woken up from deep space hibernation on 20 January 2014, it will head for rendezvous with the comet in May. In November the Philae probe will be deployed to the comet surface. Rosetta will follow the comet to its closest distance to the Sun on 13 August 2015 and as it moves back towards the outer Solar System. The nominal mission end is December 2015.
Credits: ESA

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The comet lander 'Philae' has been flying through space since 2 March 2004, and is awaiting its arrival at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in sleep mode. It will be landing on unknown territory: the exact landing site will only be decided upon by the scientists once the Rosetta spacecraft arrives at the comet, and with the help of the first camera images

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This computer animation shows how the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft wakes up from deep space hibernation on 20 January 2014. The spacecraft is headed for a 2014 rendezvous with the Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko.

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At 10:00 UTC on 20 January 2014, ESA's comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft will wake up from 31 months in deep space hibernation.

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After a ten year journey through space, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will reach comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014. After catching up with the comet Rosetta will slightly overtake and enter orbit from the 'front' of the comet as both the spacecraft and 67P/CG move along their orbits around the Sun. Rosetta will carry out a complex series of manoeuvres to reduce the separation between the spacecraft and comet from around 100 km to 25-30 km. From this close orbit, detailed mapping will allow scientists to determine the landing site for the mission's Philae lander. Immediately prior to the deployment of Philae in November, Rosetta will come to within just 2.5 km of the comet's nucleus.
This animation is not to scale; Rosetta's solar arrays span 32 m, and the comet is approximately 4 km wide.

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"It's the first time we do anything like that. The environment is totally unknown." (Andrea Accomazzo, Spacecraft Operations Manager)

Among the most fascinating projects in the exploration of the Universe is the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, launched in 2004 to investigate the comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. For the first time, a spacecraft will follow a comet as it approaches the Sun and land on its nucleus.

This highlight of the mission will take place in November 2014, when the small, autonomous daughter craft, Philae, lands on the comet itself. Philae was designed and built by an international consortium led by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum f?r Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). DLR also runs the lander control centre which is preparing for and overseeing the difficult task of landing on the comet, a feat never before accomplished.

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Animation showing Rosetta orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and scanning its surface to make scientific measurements. The colours of the beams and their shape on the surface represent two different instruments imaging and analysing the comet.

The Rosetta orbiter has a total of 11 instruments to study the characteristics and environment of the comet. Rosetta will take images of the comet at a variety of different wavelengths, will make measurements of its gravity, mass, density, internal structure, shape, and rotation, and will assess the properties its gaseous, dust-laden atmosphere, or coma. It will also probe the surrounding plasma environment and analyse how it interacts with the solar wind.

Rosetta also carries a small lander, Philae, which will descend to the surface of the comet and make in situ measurements using its suite of 10 instruments.

The animation is not to scale; comet 67P/CG is approximately 4 km wide and Rosetta is 32 m across including its solar arrays. It will conduct its scientific investigations at a range of altitudes.

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It is 19:18 CET on 20 January 2014. The palpable tension both in the control centre and the media briefing room at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt turned into joy and excitement as the long-awaited spike made its appearance on the spectrum analyser on screen -- the Rosetta spacecraft had just 'phoned in'. It is awake and ready to continue its mission to comet 67P.

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Replay of Part 1 of the Rosetta wake-up media briefing at the ESA Operations Centre ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, on 20 January 2014.

Highlights include a welcome address from ESA's Thomas Reiter, Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations, reports from inside ESA's Main Control Room and presentations from Alvaro Gimenez, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration and Johann-Dietrich W?rner, Chair of the German Aerospace Centre and Chair of ESA Council.

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and has since travelled around the Sun five times, picking up energy from Earth and Mars to line it up with its final destination: comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. For the coldest, loneliest leg of the mission, as Rosetta travelled out towards the orbit of Jupiter, the spacecraft was put into deep-space hibernation.

In 2014, Rosetta will complete its cruise towards the comet, rendezvousing with it in August, before putting its Philae lander onto the comet's surface in November, as it begins its journey closer to the Sun.

The spacecraft's internal alarm clock is set for 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 20 January. Once it has warmed itself up, it should re-establish communication with Earth several hours later.

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Replay of Part 2 of the Rosetta wake-up media briefing at the ESA Operations Centre ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, on 20 January 2014.

Covering Rosetta mission highlights, science achievements and operational challenges -- plus: updates from Main Control Room

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and has since travelled around the Sun five times, picking up energy from Earth and Mars to line it up with its final destination: comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. For the coldest, loneliest leg of the mission, as Rosetta travelled out towards the orbit of Jupiter, the spacecraft was put into deep-space hibernation.

In 2014, Rosetta will complete its cruise towards the comet, rendezvousing with it in August, before putting its Philae lander onto the comet's surface in November, as it begins its journey closer to the Sun.

The spacecraft's internal alarm clock is set for 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 20 January. Once it has warmed itself up, it should re-establish communication with Earth several hours later.

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Replay of Part 3 of the Rosetta wake-up media briefing at the ESA Operations Centre ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany, on 20 January 2014.

Waiting for the signal from Rosetta. View inside the Mission Control Room at ESOC as the team waits for a first signal that Rosetta has successfully come out of deep space hibernation.

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and has since travelled around the Sun five times, picking up energy from Earth and Mars to line it up with its final destination: comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko. For the coldest, loneliest leg of the mission, as Rosetta travelled out towards the orbit of Jupiter, the spacecraft was put into deep-space hibernation.

In 2014, Rosetta will complete its cruise towards the comet, rendezvousing with it in August, before putting its Philae lander onto the comet's surface in November, as it begins its journey closer to the Sun.

The spacecraft's internal alarm clock is set for 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET) on 20 January. Once it has warmed itself up, it should re-establish communication with Earth several hours later.

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Visualisation of how comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will appear in Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow angle camera between May and August 2014. During this time, the 4 kilometre-wide comet will grow in size in Rosetta's field of view from an apparent diameter of less than 1 camera pixel to well over 1000 pixels -- equivalent to a resolution of better than a few metres per pixel -- allowing the large surface features to be resolved.

The comet featured in this animation is an artist's impression. It is shown to scale, but the shape and surface details are only representative. In addition, the real comet will be rotating during Rosetta's approach. The planets are not to scale.

Credits: ESA-C. Carreau

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Rosetta is about to put on the brakes to ensure that it is on target for comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

This video explains the crucial orbit correction manoeuvres that are required to slow down Rosetta's speed, relative to the comet, from 750 metres per second to just one metre per second between 21 May and 5 August. By then, nine thruster burns (including one test burn in early May) will have reduced the distance between them from one million kms to just under 200 kms.

We also see the first images of the comet from the spacecraft's OSIRIS camera (Optical, Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System), taken between 24 March and 4 May 2014. As the spacecraft gets closer to the comet, further images will improve the orbital corrections and provide more details about the comet's shape, size and rotation.

MIRO, built by an international team for the European Space Agency, will start taking measurements from late May onwards and will measure gases released from the comet as it approaches the Sun.

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Rosetta is now closing its target: comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko and key manoeuvres have been done recently to slow down the spacecraft with the objective to have Rosetta orbiting the comet early August. Rosetta has successfully completed the first of three main thruster burns. Two further main burns in June (4 and 18), and six smaller burns between now and August, are ensuring that the spacecraft is on target for comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The first burn took place 500 million kilometres away on 21 May, used 218 kilogrammes of fuel and lasted 7 hours and 16 minutes -- one of the longest thruster burns in ESA's history. This video shows members of the mission team monitoring the burn in real time at the Rosetta control room at the European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt in Germany. It also includes the role of the spacecraft's ALICE instrument and how the Rosetta Plasma Consortium, a set of five instruments, is preparing for the release of the Philae lander onto the comet's surface.

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This short animation explains the relative sizes of the Rosetta spacecraft and comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko.

Rosetta is 32 m from tip to tip of the solar wings. Assuming the comet measures about 4 km across, that's 125 times the width of Rosetta.

Unlike typical artist's impressions, this image is scaled to convey the vast difference in size between Rosetta and the comet, even when the spacecraft is in a close 10 km orbit, as depicted here.

Rosetta arrives at the comet at an altitude of 100 km in the first week of August, and will move progressively closer over the following two months, with the intention to orbit at an altitude of just 10 km, depending on the comet's activity. For Philae's deployment in November, Rosetta will come to within a few kilometres of the surface.

The comet depicted in this animation is an artist's impression.

#Rosettaarewethereyet

Credits: ESA

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With comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko two days away, European Space Agency researchers must tackle unprecedented challenges for the mission to succeed

Full story: "Comet-mapping Rosetta spacecraft prepares for duty"

by Jacob Aron
August 4, 2014

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Highlights from ESA's mission control centre during Rosetta's arrival at comet 67P/C-G on 6 August 2014. Includes live updates from the Rosetta flight control team, confirmation of orbit entry and presentation of latest images and science results.

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The Rosetta mission is now on a race against time to prepare maps and collect data before the Philae lander is due to be sent down to the surface of comet 67P in November. In this edition of Euronews Space, the 'Comet Hunters' show us how to orbit a comet, how Rosetta 'sees' its target, and what the mission means to the world of science, and to this team in particular.

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