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

[Administrator]

Rosetta’s imaging and spectroscopy instruments

Published on Sep 5, 2014

Animation highlighting the imaging and spectroscopy instruments on ESA's Rosetta spacecraft. The animation focuses on the wavelengths and the fields of view of the Alice, MIRO, OSIRIS and VIRTIS instruments.

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta landing site choices

Published on Sep 12, 2014

On 15 September the Rosetta mission will announce the primary and back up landing sites for comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

This video reviews the five shortlisted landing sites, why they were selected and how the comet’s unusual ‘duck’ shape affected the choice.

The Rosetta orbiter has been studying the comet since May and choosing the right place to land is crucial in order to examine the comet further. The orbiter’s data – together with that from the Philae lander – will provide unprecedented insights into our solar system.

The film also covers the preparation by scientists, members of the mission control team at the European Space Operations Centre at Darmstadt, in Germany, and the challenges ahead.

 

[Administrator]

Philae’s descent and science on the surface

Published on Sep 12, 2014

Annotated version of the Philae’s mission at comet 67P animation.

The animation begins with the deployment of Philae from Rosetta at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in November 2014. It will take several hours for it to reach the surface. Because of the comet’s extremely low gravity, landing gear will absorb the small forces of landing while ice screws in the probe’s feet and a harpoon system will lock the probe to the surface. At the same time a thruster on top of the lander will push it down to counteract the impulse of the harpoon imparted in the opposite direction.

Once it is anchored to the comet, the lander will begin its primary science mission, based on its 64-hour initial battery lifetime. The animation shows a number of the science instruments in action on the surface.

Rosetta’s Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI.

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta mission status

Published on Sep 23, 2014

The Rosetta mission is ongoing at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The landing site for Philae has been chosen. The adventure continues! But already Rosetta is providing the scientific community more than any previous comet mission.

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta - A Lesson on Comets

Published on Oct 10, 2014

On October 9, as part of the Von Karman Lecture Series at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Manager of the US Rosetta Project, Art Chmielewski discussed comets and how they have inspired awe and wonder since the dawn of history. In November, the Rosetta spacecraft will attempt to become the first spacecraft to soft-land a robot on a comet – named 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The ten year Rosetta mission seeks to learn more about the origins of our universe by studying the comet.

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta: close orbits to lander deployment

Published on Oct 15, 2014

Animation showing Rosetta’s orbit in the lead up to, during and after lander separation.

The animation begins on 1 October 2014, when Rosetta is orbiting about 19 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (all distances refer to the comet’s centre). The animation shows the transition to the close 10 km orbit by mid-October, and then the steps taken to move onto the pre-separation trajectory.

On the day of landing, 12 November, Rosetta makes a further manoeuvre 2–3 hours before separation to move to 22.5 km from the comet centre to deploy the lander, Philae. While Philae descends to the surface over a period of seven hours, Rosetta makes another manoeuvre to maintain visibility with the lander. A series of 'relay phase' manoeuvres then move Rosetta out to a distance of about 50 km, before moving first to a 30 km orbit and later to an orbit at about 20 km by early December.

The speed of the animation slows during the separation and lander phase to better highlight these events. The comet shape and rate of rotation is real – the comet rotates with a period of about 12.4 hours.

Credits: ESA

ScienceCasts: How to Land on a Comet

Published on Nov 3, 2014

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is about to attempt something "ridiculously difficult" - landing a probe on the surface of a speeding comet.

 

[Administrator]

Landing on a Comet - The Rosetta Mission
October 23, 2014

After a 10-year journey of some seven billion kilometres, the Rosetta mission is now heading towards its next major milestone – setting the lander Philae on a comet.

On 12 November 2014, a lander is scheduled to touch down on a comet for the first time in the history of spaceflight. “We don’t know exactly what awaits us there,” says lander Project Manager Stephan Ulamec from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR).

Landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will enable scientists to carry out experiments in situ for the first time. Comets are considered to be witnesses to the birth of the Solar System. Will the surface of the comet be in a primordial state? Do comets show evidence of prebiotic molecules and water, and did they therefore play a role in the origin of life on Earth? The Rosetta mission is expected to help answer such questions.

 

[Administrator]

Scientists: Rosetta Comet Smells Terrible

Published on Nov 4, 2014

The Rosetta comet mission landing is drawing closer, and with the landing of Europe's Philae robot on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comes another scientific conclusion: the comet smells disgusting. The cloud around the icy comet contains a pungent chemical mix of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, methanol, carbon disulfide and formaldehyde, which amounts to a terrible, terrible odor. What is it exactly? And what other odors does space have in store? Kim Horcher, Tim Frisch, and Brandon Winfrey (Insomniac Games, Sunset TV Host) discuss!

Read more:
"European Scientists Conclude That Distant Comet Smells Terrible"

by Geoff Brumfiel
October 24, 2014

 

[Administrator]

Preparing for Comet Landing

Published on Nov 5, 2014

After a ten-year journey, Rosetta and Philae had finally reached their destination, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta spent many weeks studying the comet, sending lots of information back to Earth. But where was Philae going to land? Eventually the scientists on Earth found the best place on the comet for Philae to land. Soon it was time to make the final preparations for Philae's great adventure. Both spacecraft couldn't wait any longer. The whole world would be watching as Rosetta and Philae prepared for their biggest challenge yet...

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta's science

Published on Nov 6, 2014

Rosetta is a science mission and it is using 21 onboard instruments (11 on the orbiter, 10 on the lander) to explore two key scientific questions: did water on Earth come from comets and did comets help kick start life on Earth?

Since Rosetta came out of hibernation in January, we now know comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko’s mass (around 10 billion tonnes), shape (rubber duck) and rotation (every 12 hours and 24 minutes). Its cameras have shown gas and dust streaming away from the comet, locating areas of activity and imaging them for the first time. The orbiter has also captured dust grains and detected water and gases in the comet’s atmosphere or coma

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta's journey

Published on Nov 6, 2014

A summary of Rosetta’s journey – from its launch on 2 March 2004 - to the planned landing on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014. The journey has included four gravitational assists from Mars and the Earth, flybys with asteroids Steins and Lutetia, and the spacecraft's temporary hibernation and successful wake up on 20 January 2014.

In May Rosetta put on the brakes and performed rendezvous manoeuvres for several months. During this period, images from the onboard cameras revealed the comet’s unusual ‘space duck’ shape.

Rosetta arrived at its destination on 6 August and became the first spacecraft to orbit a comet. The primary landing site was announced in September and Rosetta is now on schedule to release its Philae lander onto the comet’s surface in November.

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta: landing on a comet

Published on Nov 7, 2014

Rosetta will release its Philae lander when approximately 22 kilometres from the centre of the comet. A signal confirming the separation will arrive at ground stations on Earth 28 minutes and 20 seconds later while the lander’s descent to the surface will take seven hours. On the way down, Philae will take a series of images and onboard instruments will sample the dust, gas and plasma close to the comet’s surface and measure any magnetic field.

Philae’s three lander legs will absorb the momentum of impact and use it to drive an ice screw in each foot into the surface. At the same time two harpoons will fire to lock the probe onto the surface and a small thruster on top will counteract the impulse. Once anchored to the nucleus, Philae will begin its primary science mission, based on its initial battery lifetime of 64 hours.

The SESAME experiment - which contains three instruments - includes one called CASSE, located in the lander’s feet. Harald KRUEGER, Principal Investigator of Rosetta’s SESAME experiment, explains how CASSE will use acoustic waves to determine properties of the comet’s soil.

Within hours of landing, we also hope to see the first ever images of a comet from its surface.

 

[Administrator]

How Rosetta deploys Philae

Published on Nov 7, 2014

Rosetta’s deployment of Philae with Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in the background.

The animation begins with Philae still on Rosetta, which will come to within about 22.5 km of the centre of the nucleus to release the lander on 12 November 2014. The animation shows only the first moments after separation; it will take about seven hours for Philae to reach the surface.

Philae is provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI.

Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

 

[Administrator]

Rosetta orbiting around the comet

Published on Nov 10, 2014

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 is taking images of the comet at a variety of different wavelengths, measuring its gravity, mass, density, internal structure, shape and rotation, and assessing the properties of its gaseous, dust-laden atmosphere, or coma. It is also probing the surrounding plasma environment and analysing 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; the comet is about 4.1 km wide and Rosetta is 32 m across including its solar wings, and it conducts scientific investigations at a range of altitudes. The comet shape is based on a true comet shape model.

Credits: ESA

 

[Administrator]

Philae lander instruments (Animation)

Published on Nov 11, 2014

Philae – a high-tech cube with an edge length of roughly one metre – is the name of the landing craft in the Rosetta Mission. Its main purpose is to conduct on the ground analysis of the comet material, probably the most primeval and oldest material found anywhere in the Solar System. The analysis is designed to focus in particular on element and isotope distribution, organic molecules, minerals and ice. The main purpose of analysing the structure and properties of the comet core is to determine the surface properties, the physical characteristics of the comet core and the structure of its layers, alongside the global internal structure. Furthermore, observations will zero in on and examine the repercussions of temporal variations, prompted by the day/night cycle and the emergence of the comet’s tail as it approaches the Sun.
"Philae lander instruments"

 

[Administrator]

The Rosetta Mission Asks – How Do You Land On A Comet?

Published on Nov 11, 2014

Right now the Rosetta spacecraft is in the orbit of the comet getting its lander ready for this historic event. Watch and learn how easy or how hard it is to land on a comet because nobody has done it before.

 

[Administrator]

"Arrival", "Philae's journey" and "Rosetta's waltz" by Vangelis

Published on Nov 12, 2014

The first of a trio of music videos released by ESA to celebrate the first ever attempted soft landing on a comet by ESA's Rosetta mission.

Vangelis, the world-renowned musician, has composed this piece of music specially for ESA and inspired by the Rosetta mission. Vangelis's music is often linked to themes of science, history and exploration, and he is best known for his Academy Award–winning score for the film Chariots of Fire, composing scores for the films Antarctica, Blade Runner, 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Alexander, and the use of his music in the documentary series Cosmos, by Carl Sagan.

Vangelis said: "Mythology, science and space exploration are subjects that have fascinated me since my early childhood. And they were always connected somehow with the music I write."

 

[Administrator]

Philae Lands On Comet! - Mission Control Celebrates

Published on Nov 12, 2014

The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission's lander successfully landed on the surface of comet 67P/C-G on Nov. 11, 2014. ESA's mission control erupts in celebration on landing confirmation. Full Story:

"European Spacecraft Lands on Comet in Historic Space Feat"

by Miriam Kramer
November 12, 2014

 

[Administrator]

Philae touchdown: lander status and first descent image

Published on Nov 13, 2014

Highlights from coverage of ESA's Rosetta mission soft-landing its Philae probe on a comet, the first time in history that such an extraordinary feat has been achieved. Including the presentation of the first ROLIS image sent back by Philae as the lander descended to the surface of the comet.

After a tense wait during the seven-hour descent to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the signal confirming the successful touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET).

 

[Administrator]

"Rosetta" -- A Kerbal Space Program Film
November 26, 2014

"... ...It spent 10 years chase down the comet", yes, this is the Rosetta Mission. Nobody had ever done something like this before, rendezvous with a comet, and soft land on it.

I spent a week recreating and recording the mission. It's actually harder than I think, and it took more time than I expected. But hey, it's here.

This is my first published video about KSP. It's inspired by Rosetta Mission, operated by European Space Agency.