Rosetta Mission a Success

Rosetta's last image

On Friday October 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft's historic mission concluded with Rosetta descending to the surface of Comet 67P.

Rosetta was commanded to make a final series of unique images  of its final resting place.

After Rosetta took the final images, the spacecraft mission was described a success.

The ESA's comet lander Philae is probably dead.

Philae arrived at the surface of comet 67P, (also known as Churyumov-Gerasimenko) in 2014 - delivered there by ESA's Rosetta probe.

Philae and Rosetta communicated for 57 hours after-which Philae became sporadic and finally silent.


ESA has sent a "last-ditch" message to the lander in hopes of triggering a response-the bad news is that it seems to have failed.

click here for complete Wired Article

  

Philae Lander Phones Home Again

 The European lander Philae has once again contacted Earth after more than two weeks of silence.

Philae now on the surface of  Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko once again sent data to its Rosetta mothership.

Philae has had a rough start to its' cometary exploration mission. When it arrived at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, drift off course for two hours before a rough landing in a shadier spot. This ment less power to its solar panels which may explain why Philae went quiet for months.  

It wasn't until the comet drew closer to the sun that Philae chould get in touch with Rosetta on June 13, then falling silent once more on June 24.  However, a transmission on July 9 confirmed Philae was working.

The lander is now ready for work 186 million miles from Earth as the comet makes its closest approach to the sun.

Comets Not the Source of Earth's Water!

Comets did not bring water to Earth.  This startling piece of news comes from scientists studying data coming back from the ESU's Rosetta.  The data, they feel, points towards asteroids as the watery culprits.  Still, other scientists want more data before ruling out comets completely.

Though the lander Philae's batteries have long since been depleted after it landed on comet  67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, November 12 2014, the "mother ship" Rosetta has continued to study the comet up close.


This historically close look at a comet may well answer the questions of whether it was possible that these primitive bodies brought water to Earth billions of years ago. Data  gathered by Rosetta's two mass spectrometers suggests this may not be the case.

The authors conclude it is more likely that the water came from asteroids, but other scientists say more data is needed before comets can be ruled out.

Since August, the Rosetta probe has been orbiting Comet 67P and on  November 12 Philae, touched down on the comet's surface.

This historically close look at a comet may well answer the questions of whether it was possible that these primitive bodies brought water to Earth billions of years ago.  Data gathered by Rosetta's two mass spectrometers suggests this may not be the case.







Earth's water is very distinctive. The majority on Earth is made up of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms.  Infrequently one of the hydrogen atoms will be replaced with a deuterium atom - better known as "heavy water". Deutertium however is exceedingly rare.  For every 10,000 water molecules, three deuterium atoms can be found, a very distinctive ratio of light to heavy water, not easily changed and persists for a very long time.

When the team compared the water on Earth to that of Comet 67p, it was discovered that there was far more heavy water on Comet 67P than on Earth, more than three time that found on Earth.

 Complete BBC News online article HERE

Rosetta covers a Beatle's tune

Rosetta covers a Beatle's tune. Well almost. Andrew Huang took fragments of the audio from the Rosetta mission. His goal was to have the sounds from Rosetta back him up as he sings The Beatles' 'Across the Universe'. Apart from his singing, no other sounds were used in the song.

Philae Lands on Comet Comet 67P

After a heart stopping seven-hour descent, the ESA Philae space-craft has indeed made history by being the first spacecraft ever to land softly on a comet. 

Philae's mother-ship - the Rosetta orbiter, transmitted the signal confirming the successful touchdown.  

Rosetta was launched on 2 March 2004 and traveled over 4 billion miles through the Solar System before arriving at the comet on 6 August 2014.

The landing site, named Agilkia and is located on the head of the bizarre double-lobed object.  Soon after Rosetta arrived, it began taking photos from apx, 20 miles to as far away as 60 miles looking for a possible landing site. 

From the Rosetta / ESA web site: 

• Those first images soon revealed the comet as a world littered with boulders, towering cliffs and daunting precipices and pits, with jets of gas and dust streaming from the surface. 

Philae was release at a distance of 15 miles and it made its decent, without propulsion or guidance.   

From the Rosetta / ESA web site: 

Over the next 2.5 days, the lander will conduct its primary science mission, assuming that its main battery remains in good health. An extended science phase using the rechargeable secondary battery may be possible, assuming Sun illumination conditions allow and dust settling on the solar panels does not prevent it. This extended phase could last until March 2015, after which conditions inside the lander are expected to be too hot for it to continue operating.

Philae's Wikipedia site  

CNN News Video

Philae's Landing Site Now Has a Name

The science spacecraft Rosetta's lander, designated Philae is due to land on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko November 12.  Up until recently the landing site was simply known as 'J'.  

The Philae steering committee, along with other agencies involved with the ESA Rosetta probe, asked the public for suggestions.  The name was finally narrowed down to Agilkia.  

Rosetta will release Philae on November 12 at a distance of 14 miles  from the center of the comet, with a scheduled landing about seven hours later at Agilkia.

Check out the complete article on Astronomy  HERE

Rosetta now in ORBIT!!!

The Rosetta spacecraft has after over a decade of maneuvering become the first probe to orbit a comet. Now I know that is going to raise a few hackles, but Ceres etc. were ASTEROIDS and mini-planets or dwarf planets.So Dawn et al were another class of probe and the few that DID approach were chasers or fly ahead types that did good science, it is Rosetta that will set the bar much higher.

Controllers instructed Rosetta to fire its thrusters on its final approach to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, "Chury", on Wednesday August seventh.  They announced a half an hour after the burn, that the Rosetta had entered into orbit around the comet.

The Rosetta probe will remain in orbit, but plans are to get the probe to within 6 miles so the second history making part of the mission to take place.  Early in November of 2014 the lander Philae will set another historic first for the Rosetta mission by landing on the surface.  (that should prove quite a feat as Chury is swapping it's north and south poles at a fairly rapid interval)  when it lands on the comet.

From the NationalJournal website

• The 220-pound probe will deploy ice screws and harpoons as it hits the surface, because 67P's (Chury) minimal gravity is not enough to keep it anchored.

Rosetta triumphs at asteroid Lutetia

From the ESA Rosetta page via Boing Boing is some absolutely stunning photos of the Rosetta spacecraft as it does a flyby of the asteroid Lutetia. I love the one with Saturn as the backdrop to one of the frames!

ESA's Rosetta spacecraft's main mission is the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko which it will reach in 2014. It will hold the distinction of being the first craft to carry out long-term exploration of a comet at close quarters. When Rosetta arrives at the comet it will release a small lander onto the comet's icy surface, then spend the next two years orbiting the comet as it heads towards the Sun.

click here for more Rosetta photos

Stein flyby movie from ESA's Rosetta comet chaser

Here is a cool first look at the asteroid Stein as seen from the spacecraft Rosetta during it's close flyby earlier this month (September 2008) At Right are some stills of the oddly shaped asteroid. Click the link below for the animation, or more information.

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ESA - Rosetta Nears Asteroid Fly-by

Overshadowed by more glamorous missions to Venus, Mars, Saturn, etc., the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission approaches a scientifically interesting fly-by of asteroid 2867 Steins. The closest approach will occur on September fifth.

ESA just released this tracking image from Rosetta which shows Stein's relative movement.

"Rosetta spacecraft will be the first to undertake the long-term exploration of a comet at close quarters ... entering orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, the spacecraft will release a small lander onto the icy nucleus, then spend the next two years orbiting the comet as it heads towards the Sun"

This asteroid fly-by is just a cool bonus to Rosetta's main mission but is interesting nonetheless. (Now if I could just get that darn Alice Cooper song out of my head).

More information on this fly-by and Rosetta in general is available at its homepage linked below.

<ESA Rosetta Homepage>