ESA’s comet-chaser Rosetta, whose 10-year journey to its final target
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko started on 2 March, is well on its way.
The first phase of commissioning is close to completion and Rosetta has
successfully performed its first scientific activity – observation of
Comet Linear.
The commissioning activities, which started a couple of days after launch,
included the individual activation of all instruments on board the Rosetta
orbiter and the Philae lander. This first check-out worked flawlessly and
showed that the spacecraft and all instruments are functioning well and in
excellent shape.
The commissioning tests also paved the way for Rosetta’s first scientific
activity: observation of Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR), which is currently
travelling for the first and only time through the inner Solar System and
offered Rosetta an excellent opportunity to make its first scientific
observation.
On 30 April, the OSIRIS camera system, which was scheduled for
commissioning on that date, took images of this unique cometary visitor.
Later that day, three more instruments on board Rosetta (ALICE, MIRO and
VIRTIS) were activated in parallel to take measurements of
the comet. Although the parallel activation of the instruments was not
planned until later in the year, the Rosetta team felt confident that this
could be done without any risk because of the satisfactory progress of the
overall testing.
The first data from the remote-sensing observations confirm the excellent
performance of the instruments. The four instruments took images and
spectra of Comet C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) to study its coma and tail in
different wavelengths, from ultraviolet to microwave. Rosetta successfully
measured the presence of water molecules in the tenuous atmosphere around
the comet. Detailed analysis of the data will require the complete
calibration of the instruments, which will take place in the coming
months. The OSIRIS camera produced high-resolution images of Comet C/2002
T7 (LINEAR) from a distance of about 95 million kilometres. An image
showing a pronounced nucleus and a section of the tenuous tail extending
over about 2 million kilometres was obtained by OSIRIS in blue light and
is available at:
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/spcs/rosetta/rosetta20040526a.tif
The successful observation of Comet Linear was a first positive test for
Rosetta’s ultimate goal, Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which will be
reached in 2014. Rosetta will be the first mission to undertake a
long-term exploration of a comet at close quarters whilst accompanying it
on its way towards the Sun.
The unprecedented in-depth study conducted by the Rosetta orbiter and its
Philae lander will help scientists decipher the formation of our Solar
System around 4600 million years ago and provide them with clues of how
comets may have contributed to the beginning of life on Earth. In
particular, the Philae lander, developed by a European consortium under
the leadership of the German Aerospace Research Institute (DLR), will
analyse the composition and structure of the comet’s surface.
After Rosetta’s first deep-space manoeuvres were carried out on 10 and 15
May with the highest accuracy, the first phase of commissioning is set to
be completed in the first week of June. Rosetta will then go into a quiet
‘cruise mode’ until September, when the second phase of commissioning is
scheduled to start. These activities, including the interference and
pointing campaign, will last until December.
So the Rosetta spacecraft is well under way on its epic 10-year voyage, to
do what has never before been attempted – orbiting and landing on a comet.
Note to editors:
Rosetta was built under the prime contractorship of Astrium Germany,
leading an industrial team of more than 50 contractors from 14 European
countries and the United States.
For further information please contact:
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690
