Rosetta Earth Swingby media presentation 13.11.2009

ROSETTA’s LAST EARTH SWINGBY ESA Control Centre, Darmstadt Friday, 13 November 2009

The Rosetta Mission Dr Gerhard Schwehm Rosetta Mission Manager & Head of Solar System Science Operations Division, ESA

Rosetta - a brief overview
Rosetta is an ESA scientific cornerstone mission
Initially studied as an ESA/NASA comet-nucleus sample return mission, it later became a European-only mission (with 3 NASA instruments) to perform in-situ measurements at the comet
Rosetta was endorsed by ESA in 1993 and launched in 2004
67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko is the final target comet, to be reached in 2014
A very precise injection into interplanetary orbit by Ariane 5 allowed Rosetta to have enough fuel for two asteroid encounters on the way:
- (2867) Steins, 5 September 2008 - (21) Lutetia, 10 July 2010

Rosetta firsts
Rosetta will be the first mission to rendezvous with a comet nucleus and orbit it for an extended period
Rosetta will be the first mission to deploy a Lander (Philae) onto the surface of a comet nucleus.

Rosetta’s objectives
Bringing a lab to a comet!
determine the physical properties and the chemical composition of a comet by in-situ investigations
Study the evolution of the cometary phenomena (coma and tail) while the comet approaches the Sun
Observe at least one asteroid from close by, so to study another class of primitive members of the solar system to understand better how it was formed

Rosetta’s journey to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Basically it is half-time for the mission
A little more than 5 years after launch and a little less than 5 years to reach the comet
The spacecraft has been performing extremely well and so have the teams here at ESOC, who are at the controls, at ESAC and the experiment teams

Rosetta’s journey to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
All major milestones to bring Rosetta to the comet are completed…

Launch 2 March 2004, from Kourou, French Guyana

First Earth swingby, 4 March 2005

Mars swingby, 25 February 2007

Second Earth swingby 13 November 2007

Steins flyby at a distance of 800 km, 5 September 2008

Today final planetary swingby to bring Rosetta on its way to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.

Rosetta Earth swingby 3 Scientific Observations Dr Rita Schulz Rosetta Project Scientist, ESA

Last planetary swingby of Rosetta
Closest approach: 13 November 07:45 UT, 2,480 km above Earth surface
Moon closest approach: 13 November 15:41 UT at 220,000 km
Remote sensing instruments will perform science and calibration measurements
Limited visibility of Rosetta from Earth (observations from ESA/OGS on Tenerife)
Closest approach over day side
Over night side until shortly before the closest approach over the Pacific Ocean
ROSETTA EARTH SWINGBY 3 Scientific Observations

ROSETTA EARTH SWING BY 3 Scientific Observations Participating instruments and science measurements (6-19 November) RPC All sensors active (9-16 November) Earth-Moon system, plasma & magnetospheric studies OSIRIS Imaging of Earth (e.g. Berlin, NYC, Atlantic, islands in south pacific) and Moon ALICE Star occultation by Moon VIRTIS Earth night-side observations MIRO Moon studies (search for water) OSIRIS/VIRTIS/ALICE Auroral search and study, upper atmosphere, oxygen night glow

Rosetta Critical swingby events Andrea Accomazzo Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager, ESA

Interplanetary Trajectory
Heliocentric speeds:
Earth 30 km/s @ 150 Mkm from the Sun
Comet 33 km/s @ 186 Mkm from the Sun
Rosetta heliocentric speeds:
After launch 30.0 km/s
After 1 st Earth swingby 33.8 km/s
After 2 nd Earth swingby 35.1 km/s
After 3 rd Earth swingby 38.7 km/s

Earth swingby 3

Navigation Towards the Earth

The swingby as seen from the Earth
Closest approach (or perigee):
Time 07:45:40 UTC
Altitude 2481 km
Geocentric speed 13.34 km/s or 48,024 km/h

Rosetta Future Mission Milestones Dr Paolo Ferri Head of Solar and Planetary Missions Division

Mission Profile

Future Mission Milestones
Asteroid Lutetia flyby: 10 th July 2010;
Deep Space Hibernation: July 2011-January 2014;
Comet arrival: May 2014;
Landing: November 2014;
Perihelion: August 2015;
End of mission: December 2015.

Rosetta Earth Swingby media presentation 13.11.2009

by European Space Agency

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