[meteorite-list] Rosetta Successfully Swings-By Mars

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 10:12:51 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200702251812.KAA14084_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

ESA News
http://www.esa.int

25 February 2007

Rosetta successfully swings-by Mars -- next target: Earth

At 03:57 CET [0257 UTC] today, mission controllers at ESOC, ESA's Space
Operations Centre in Germany, confirmed Rosetta's successful swingby of
Mars, a key milestone in the 7.1-thousand-million km journey of this unique
spacecraft to its target comet in 2014.

The gravitational energy of Mars helped Rosetta change direction, while the
spacecraft was decelerated with respect to the Sun by an estimated 7887
km/hour. The spacecraft is now on the correct track towards Earth -- its
next destination planet whose gravitational energy Rosetta will exploit in
November this year to gain acceleration and continue on its trek.

Presented in this article is one two-colour composite image of Mars
collected by Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic and Imaging system (OSIRIS)
instrument before closest approach to the planet, and before the orbiter
instruments where switched off for the spacecraft's Mars eclipse period.

The OSIRIS narrow-angle camera took this image at 19:28 CET [1828 UTC], 24
February. It shows Mars from a distance of 240 000 kms and at a resolution
of about 5 kms per pixel. The greenish regions are clouds above the Red
Planet's surface.

New images are expected to be available online after 13:00 [1200 UTC] today.

[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMWZ5CE8YE_index_1.html ]

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European Space Agency
Press Release No. 07-2007
Paris, France 25 February 2007

Rosetta comet-chaser takes a close look at planet Mars

There was considerable relief today at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC)
in Darmstadt, Germany. In the early hours, spacecraft controllers, flight
dynamics experts, engineers and scientists were able to see a spacecraft
playing 'cosmic billiards'.
 
Between 03:13 and 03:40 CET [0213 - 0240 UTC], ESA's comet chaser, Rosetta,
swung-by Mars at a distance of only 250 kilometres, changed direction and
then sped away from the Red Planet on a brand new path, continuing on a
journey that will ultimately take it beyond Jupiter's orbit.

Its final destination is comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which it will reach
only in 2014, after travelling some 6000 million kilometres in 10 years (its
epic voyage began on 2 March 2004 with a launch by an Ariane 5 rocket).
Rosetta will next be heading for the Sun, and its journey will require two
more swing-bys around the Earth, in November this year and November 2009.

Once at its destination, Rosetta will first deposit, from a height of about
one kilometre, a small but very complex lander on the comet's nucleus. This
lander, a sort of miniature chemical laboratory packed with sophisticated
instruments, will analyse the surface and provide information on the
nucleus. The Rosetta probe will then chase the comet for one year and
observe its nucleus as it continues on its trip towards the inner Solar
System at a speed of 135,000 km per hour.

There is still a long way to go, but so far everything seems to be going
exactly according to plan. ESA's Director of Science, David Southwood,
witnessing the Mars swing-by at ESOC with scientists involved in the mission
and the operations teams, said: "Interplanetary expeditions rely on very
complex communication links. ESA's mission operations centre here in
Darmstadt is doing a great job. I and all the scientists involved in the
mission are grateful to the experts who are taking such good care of 'our
baby'. And this is only the beginning. The true excitement of targeting and
releasing the lander on the comet's nucleus is yet to come. Today we have
reached another milestone on the way to finding an answer to questions such
as whether life on Earth began with the help of comets."

During the approach to Mars, instruments onboard Rosetta -- as well as on
its lander -- were switched on at predefined times to observe the
environment and take imagery of the Red Planet. In September 2008 and July
2010, when it is deep inside the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,
Rosetta will also observe the asteroids Stein and Lutetia close up.

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Office
Communication Department
Phone: + 33 1 5369 7155

ESA/ESOC
Communication Office
Phone: + 49 6151 90 26 96

[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZAOBE8YE_index_1.html ]

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ESA News
http://www.esa.int

25 February 2007

Beautiful new images from Rosetta's approach to Mars

This series of beautiful images taken by Rosetta's Optical, Spectroscopic,
and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS), shows planet Mars in the
pre-close-approach phase.

The ultraviolet image above was taken on 24 February 2007 with the OSIRIS
wide-angle camera through the 'OH' colour filter, intended for the indirect
detection of water when observing comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Clouds are visible at the North polar cap of Mars and at the morning 'limb'
(border or outermost edge of a celestial body). A high-altitude cloud is
also visible and shown in the inset.

Atmospheric structures can be seen in the next pair of images taken by the
OSIRIS narrow-angle camera. The images have been produced through a special
combination of the green and red colour filters, emphasising the brightness
difference. This image processing step enhances the structures in the
atmosphere, either dust or clouds.

The last OSIRIS image presented in this article is an annotated version of
the two-colour composite of Mars seen by the OSIRIS narrow-angle camera on
24 February at 19:28 CET [1828 UTC] from a distance of about 240 000 km,
with an image resolution of about 5 km per pixel.

This is better, for example, than previous views of the planet obtained by
the Hubble Space Telescope. The greenish regions are clouds above the red
surface of Mars.

Contact for more information
 
Uwe Keller
OSIRIS Principal Investigator
Max-Planck-Institut f Aeronomie
Email: KELLER _at_ linmpi.mpg.de

Gerhard Schwehm
ESA Rosetta Mission Manager
Email: gerhard.schwehm _at_ esa.int

ESA/ESOC Communication Office
Darmstadt, Germany
Tel. +49-6151-90-2696

[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUDT70LYE_index_1.html ]

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ESA News
http://www.esa.int

25 February 2007

Stunning view of Rosetta skimming past Mars

This stunning view, showing portions of the Rosetta spacecraft with Mars in
the background, was taken by the Rosetta Lander Imaging System (CIVA) on
board Rosetta's Philae lander just four minutes before the spacecraft
reached closest approach to the Red Planet earlier this morning.
 
While the Rosetta orbiter instruments were switched off as planned during
several hours around closest approach, which occurred at 03:15 CET [0215
UTC] today, some of the lander instruments were operational and collected
data from Mars.

This incredible CIVA image was taken about 1000 kilometres from the planet's
surface. A portion of the spacecraft and one of its solar arrays are visible
in nice detail. Beneath, an area close to the Syrtis region is visible on
the planet's disk.

Philae lander in first autonomous operation
 
This is the first time that the Philae lander operated in a totally
autonomous mode, completely relying on the power of its own batteries. This
will be the case when the lander will have touched down on comet 67P
Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 and will have to perform its scientific
measurements independently from the Rosetta orbiter.

A sequence of observations from today's Mars close approach were run
successfully, providing an important test for the science observations of
the comet nucleus to come. In addition to CIVA, the ROMAP instrument was
also switched on, collecting data about the magnetic environment of Mars.
The data sets acquired by both instruments are unique, as the presented
image summarises for CIVA.

The Philae lander still has still a long route ahead to ensure success for
its highly challenging venture, which requires a safe landing on an unknown
icy body, and performing a very complex programmed sequence of operations in
a highly constrained environment.

A number of updates and validation of some systems and instruments are still
required, which should be implemented during the upcoming cruise phase and
the Earth swingby in November 2007.

For more information:
 
Jean-Pierre Bibring
Philae Lander co-Lead Scientist and Philae/CIVA Principal Investigator
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale - IAS, Orsay, France
Email: jean-pierre.bibring _at_ ias.u-psud.fr

Gerhard Schwehm
ESA Rosetta Mission Manager
Email: gerhard.schwehm _at_ esa.int

ESA/ESOC Communication Office
Darmstadt, Germany
Tel. +49-6151-90-2696

[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFTZM0LYE_index_1.html ]
Received on Sun 25 Feb 2007 01:12:51 PM PST